Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,094 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $12,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,005,000 after buying an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of PRU opened at $103.11 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $119.76. The company has a market capitalization of $35.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.71 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.61%.

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.