Brookstone Capital Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Brookstone Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,125 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $10,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRU. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 958,672 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after purchasing an additional 420,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Prudential Financial by 209.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE PRU opened at $108.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 57.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.50.

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.