California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 597,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 40,542 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Prudential Financial worth $70,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,597,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PRU. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.15.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares in the company, valued at $3,992,429.24. This represents a 60.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.95 and a 200 day moving average of $118.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.45 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. As a group, research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

About Prudential Financial

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.