California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,761 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 592,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,761 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Prudential Financial worth $70,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,960,547,000 after buying an additional 220,671 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,050,635,000 after buying an additional 193,681 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $555,513,000 after acquiring an additional 897,916 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $290,906,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,409,521 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,601,000 after purchasing an additional 26,210 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This trade represents a 18.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 87,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.72 per share, with a total value of $2,499,989.84. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 87,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,499,989.84. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

PRU traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.60. 1,632,618 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,609,299. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $105.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.43. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.38 and a 1-year high of $130.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. Prudential Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.29%.

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.