Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Decreases Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,126 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,064,000 after acquiring an additional 197,422 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,367,000 after purchasing an additional 72,696 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,248 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PRU. UBS Group increased 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $121.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.25.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of PRU stock traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.09. The stock had a trading volume of 397,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,493,209. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.92. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.40 and a 52-week high of $121.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,536 shares of company stock valued at $19,245,606 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.