Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. sold 60,927 shares of Prudential Financial, reducing its stake by 56% in the first quarter, now holding 47,954 shares worth $5,356,000.
• Prudential Financial reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $3.22, but experienced a 2.5% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• A quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share has been announced, representing a 5.0% yield, with a payout ratio of 119.73%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 56.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 60,927 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 32,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,854,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,062,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 22,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,642 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU traded up $0.17 on Monday, hitting $105.88. 1,418,123 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,790. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $105.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.61. 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 $37.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.07.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is 119.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PRU. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. The trade was a 15.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,675,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.64 per share, for a total transaction of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at $90,744,723.04. This represents a 112.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial 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.