Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 31,011 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,011 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.13% of Prudential Financial worth $43,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Econ Financial Services Corp bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $1,532,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 22,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,195,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at about $347,000. Xcel Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 82.4% in the first quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 13,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.4% in the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 50,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,947,000 after acquiring an additional 3,054 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $107.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.82 and a 200-day moving average of $104.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for 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 posted $3.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.61%.

About Prudential Financial

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.