Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,469 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.08% of Prudential Financial worth $35,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 376.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 61.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 235.4% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $127.25.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

PRU traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $118.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,525,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,363. The stock has a market cap of $42.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.66. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.60 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.22%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.