Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Sold by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise cut its stake in Prudential Financial by 65.4% in the first quarter, selling 26,547 shares and leaving it with 14,055 shares worth about $1.37 million.
• Analysts are becoming more cautious on PRU: several firms have downgraded the stock, and the consensus rating now stands at "Reduce" with a consensus price target of $101.92.
• Prudential beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.61 versus the $3.09 estimate and revenue of $15.23 billion versus $14.10 billion expected, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share for a 5.2% yield.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 65.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 26,547 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PRU. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,945,381,000 after acquiring an additional 210,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,078,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,414 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $750,562,000 after buying an additional 420,081 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,701,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,214,000 after purchasing an additional 62,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,428,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,151,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus lowered Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore restated a "negative" rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $101.92.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU opened at $108.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $119.76. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $102.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.28.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential's long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential's core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.

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