Plato Investment Management Ltd Lowers Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 22.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,733 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,455,000 after acquiring an additional 10,727 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 89,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,580,000 after acquiring an additional 24,801 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 15,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.08.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,132.90. This trade represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $105.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.59.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.The business had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.