Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Lowers Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. by 8.8%, now holding 146,883 shares valued at approximately $15.78 million.
• In recent trading, Prudential's stock price has fluctuated with target prices set by analysts ranging between $108.00 and $136.00, with a consensus target of $122.08.
• Prudential Financial reported earnings per share of $3.58 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,230 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $15,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at about $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,777,000 after purchasing an additional 678,028 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,751,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $183,571,000 after purchasing an additional 216,119 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 72.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,789,000 after purchasing an additional 178,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $495,859,000 after purchasing an additional 116,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total transaction of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at $2,358,132.90. The trade was a 15.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $101.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.21 and a 200-day moving average of $104.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $130.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.04.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Prudential Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

About Prudential Financial

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.

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