Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 44.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 315,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 256,683 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Prudential Financial worth $35,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PRU. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 11.4% in the first quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 6,713 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 98.7% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 93,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,248 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.6% in the first quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 19,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 10,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 1,675,978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.64 per share, for a total transaction of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.75.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 0.4%

PRU stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.93. The stock had a trading volume of 341,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,795. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $37.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.09.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for 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%. Prudential Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is presently 85.58%.

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.