Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,206,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,376 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.17% of Prudential Financial worth $492,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $442,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 926.0% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 18,316 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 70.9% during the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 73,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,643,000 after buying an additional 30,603 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 18.5% in the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 9,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,705.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PRU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $113.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $118.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.83.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $116.26 on Monday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.95 and a 52-week high of $128.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.99.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.78 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 4.86%. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.31 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

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.