Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Short Interest Down 23.8% in March

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,890,000 shares, a decrease of 23.8% from the March 15th total of 6,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Prudential Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a "c+" rating to an "a-" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,386,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154,865 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $628,529,000 after purchasing an additional 111,170 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $655,378,000 after purchasing an additional 413,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $750,839,000 after acquiring an additional 356,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $413,064,000 after acquiring an additional 197,422 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,754,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,335,455. The firm has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $118.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $111.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.41 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

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.