Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 11,975 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Prudential Financial by 45.3%, now holding 14,439 shares worth approximately $1.61 million.
• Major insider transactions included EVP Ann M. Kappler selling 4,000 shares and a significant acquisition by the Insurance Co Of America, which bought 1,675,978 shares for around $48 million.
• Prudential Financial reported $3.58 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share with a yield of 5.1%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 45.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,975 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 90.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 234 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 12,250.0% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 247 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, August 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:PRU traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $106.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,628,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,531. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $105.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.53. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.73%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,675,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. This trade represents a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total transaction of $438,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.