Insider Selling: Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) CEO Sells $429,958.08 in Stock

Key Points

• Prudential CEO Andrew Sullivan sold 3,544 shares for about $430,000, reducing his direct ownership by 6.58%; he retained 50,317 shares.
• Quarterly adjusted earnings were $3.77 per share, beating the $3.33 analyst consensus, while revenue of $14.45 billion came in below expectations.
• Analyst sentiment was cautious: MarketBeat reported a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $112.40.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) CEO Andrew Sullivan sold 3,544 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.32, for a total value of $429,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,104,458.44. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $123.38. 1,555,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,018,990. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $128.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.66 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 6.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,852,593,000 after acquiring an additional 209,179 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $209,055,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Mizuho set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prudential Financial from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $103.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $112.40.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as the Prudential Friendly Society, it has grown into a provider of insurance, retirement and investment services. The company offers life insurance, annuities, workplace benefits and retirement-related products and services. Through its asset management businesses, Prudential also serves individual and institutional investors. Prudential serves customers in the United States and operates internationally, with a significant presence in Japan and other markets.

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