Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) SVP Sells $604,933.62 in Stock

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU traded up $1.26 on Thursday, reaching $117.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,139,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,118. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.87 and a fifty-two week high of $118.69. The stock has a market cap of $42.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $112.48 and its 200 day moving average is $104.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. Prudential Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,386,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,154,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $413,064,000 after buying an additional 197,422 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after buying an additional 388,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,367,000 after acquiring an additional 72,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.08.

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.