Virtu Financial LLC Sells 4,416 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Prudential Financial by 67.9%, selling 4,416 shares and retaining 2,090 shares valued at $233,000.
• Prudential Financial reported earnings of $3.58 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.22, but had a 2.5% decline in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 5.1%, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 119.73%.

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 67.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,416 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $401,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 164,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,475,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 415,502 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,240,000 after purchasing an additional 13,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 169,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.92. 651,405 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,770,945. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $104.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.07.

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

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 1,675,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.