Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 11,237 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 145,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,237 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $14,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of PRU opened at $111.16 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $102.99 and its 200 day moving average is $104.12. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.