Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $64,000 Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. trimmed its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 91.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,966 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $122,778,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,566,432,000 after acquiring an additional 600,482 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,192,000 after acquiring an additional 567,571 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth $40,552,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 209.2% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 520,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,871,000 after purchasing an additional 351,849 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total transaction of $5,172,331.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,779,917.96. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 62,719 shares of company stock worth $6,796,067 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho started coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.78.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of PRU stock opened at $109.82 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $38.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.97. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $123.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $4.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $17.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.77 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 74.18%.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.