Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Holdings Decreased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,038 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.1% in the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 17,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 160,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,293,000 after buying an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 10,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,459,000 after buying an additional 5,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 47,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $109.31.

Key Prudential Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Prudential Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Prudential Advisors added an experienced advisor overseeing more than $106 million in client assets. Zachary Karason joined the Mid America Financial Group after roles at U.S. Bancorp Advisors and Merrill Lynch. The move could modestly support Prudential’s wealth-management growth and advisor recruiting efforts. Prudential Advisors Welcomes Zachary Karason to Mid America Financial Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Prudential’s latest earnings were better than expected, but revenue fell short of estimates. The company reported quarterly earnings of $4.08 per share, above the $3.52 analyst consensus, while revenue of $14.16 billion trailed the $14.36 billion estimate. The earnings beat is supportive, although the revenue miss and comparisons with the prior year provide a mixed signal for investors. Prudential Down Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound?
• Negative Sentiment: PRU has slightly underperformed since its earnings release. A market update noted that the stock was down 0.3% over the 30 days following its report, suggesting that the earnings beat has not yet translated into sustained momentum and that investors may be looking for stronger forward guidance or estimate revisions. Prudential Down 0.3% Since Last Earnings Report

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $123.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $127.72. The firm has a market cap of $42.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

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.