Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,060 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,777,000 after buying an additional 678,028 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,751,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,571,000 after buying an additional 216,119 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 72.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,789,000 after buying an additional 178,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,859,000 after buying an additional 116,079 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.27.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $99.08 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.04.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. This represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.