Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,081,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,642 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.59% of Prudential Financial worth $234,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,701,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,214,000 after purchasing an additional 62,366 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,044,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,321,000 after purchasing an additional 291,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $140,530,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,172,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,629,000 after purchasing an additional 17,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $104.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $119.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.30.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.