Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Stock Position Reduced by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,109 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 38,247 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.14% of Prudential Financial worth $57,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 163.5% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,801,000 after purchasing an additional 36,599 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $815,000. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,112,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,500,000 after buying an additional 34,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.26. 1,028,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,460,168. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $118.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $112.14 and a 200-day moving average of $104.33. The stock has a market cap of $40.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.