Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 4,295 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,295 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.7% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 388,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,031,000 after purchasing an additional 114,459 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 9.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 35,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 79,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.6% in the first quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 189,321 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,143,000 after purchasing an additional 6,620 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 1,675,978 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 3,168,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,744,723.04. This represents a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.15.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.07. 2,153,200 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,656,596. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $104.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.68. The company has a market capitalization of $37.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.58%.

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.