Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Holdings Cut by Evolve Private Wealth LLC

Evolve Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 55.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,904 shares during the period. Evolve Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $3,507,481,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $209,055,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $157,752,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,769,000 after buying an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,530,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $109.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $120.09 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $127.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.72%.

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.