Burney Co. Cuts Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Burney Co. trimmed its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 3,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 16,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,968,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Prudential Financial stock traded down $12.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $110.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,436,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,238. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.34. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.95 and a twelve month high of $128.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $119.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.03.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.43 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.78 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 4.86%. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PRU. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.92.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.