Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Sells 416 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 416 shares during the period. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 35.1% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 90.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $258,000. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 34,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU opened at $117.66 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.60 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $41.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.67.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

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.