Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,343,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 320,880 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.68% of Prudential Financial worth $252,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.4% in the fourth quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 93.1% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Argus downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $109.31.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PRU stock opened at $120.36 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.