California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 14,615 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 624,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,615 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Prudential Financial worth $61,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 98.3% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $105.46.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $122.86 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $124.57.

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 return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same period last year, the company earned $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

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.