Forum Financial Management LP Reduces Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Forum Financial Management LP trimmed its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 50.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,338 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 958,672 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in 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 valued at $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after buying an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 209.2% in 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 buying an additional 351,849 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $107.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $102.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.16. The stock has a market cap of $37.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued 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 company had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

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.