Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 10,724 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,724 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $16,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PRU. GTS Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 116.9% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 23,841 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,410,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $404,230,000 after buying an additional 352,335 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 52,595 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 139,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,992,429.24. The trade was a 60.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares in the company, valued at $2,869,090.56. The trade was a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.15.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.6%

PRU stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.84. 2,260,922 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,704. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $36.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $104.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.06. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.38 and a 1-year high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.25%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.