Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 3,868 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 336,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,868 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Prudential Financial worth $34,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 163.5% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,801,000 after acquiring an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $112.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $112.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.33. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.22 and a twelve month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PRU. UBS Group upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.42.

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.