Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 42,645 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lessened its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 71.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,645 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.0% during the third quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 565.2% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Plan Group Financial LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 4,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,752,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,344,000 after buying an additional 32,171 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,204.15. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 6,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total transaction of $762,215.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,618,974.44. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $111.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $123.88. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $112.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.21.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $4.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.72 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $17.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.77 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.18%.

Prudential Financial 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.