Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,087,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 88,854 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $116,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.2% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 14,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,552,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,974,000 after purchasing an additional 7,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total value of $5,172,331.96. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,779,917.96. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,204.15. This represents a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $111.68 on Monday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.38 and a 1-year high of $127.82. The company has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.56 and a 200-day moving average of $104.98.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.18%.

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.