Bank of Nova Scotia Has $8.06 Million Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 43.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 75,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,140 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Econ Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,662,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 49.2% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,192,000 after purchasing an additional 567,571 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $298,000. Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $289,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.2% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 213,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,970,000 after buying an additional 49,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $115.89.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $114.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.18. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $123.88.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.60%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.18%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,779,917.96. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,204.15. This represents a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.