US Bancorp DE Sells 10,053 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE has reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. by 6.7%, owning 140,625 shares valued at approximately $15.7 million after selling 10,053 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have either increased or decreased their stakes in Prudential Financial, with institutional investors collectively owning 56.83% of the company's stock.
• Prudential Financial reported a 3.58 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate and indicating a quarterly revenue of $13.50 billion, though down 2.5% from the previous year.

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,053 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $15,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Prudential Financial by 6.2% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 5,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 1.5% during the first quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 53,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,936,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 9,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Prudential Financial by 5.7% during the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Prudential Financial by 146.6% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 13,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 8,187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PRU shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reduced 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. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.75.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.9%

Prudential Financial stock traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $104.13. 1,656,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,679,641. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $104.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $36.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $90.38 and a one year high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business had revenue of $13.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is 119.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,675,978 shares of the 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 acquisition, the insider directly owned 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.