Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,416 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $4,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research raised Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $108.25 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $91.89 and a one year high of $119.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $101.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.31. The stock has a market cap of $37.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG 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 (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly 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 previous year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 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.