Greenleaf Trust Trims Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Greenleaf Trust decreased its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 19.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,869 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PRU. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth about $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,777,000 after buying an additional 678,028 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Prudential Financial by 14.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,751,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,571,000 after buying an additional 216,119 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 72.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 424,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,789,000 after buying an additional 178,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,859,000 after buying an additional 116,079 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Prudential Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total value of $438,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,358,132.90. This trade represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $101.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.21 and a 200 day moving average of $104.91. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $130.55. The firm has a market cap of $35.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.36. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%.The company had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.73%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.