Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,081,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,642 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $234,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,987,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $104.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $36.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $99.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.30.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PRU. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Bank of America cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

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.