Bailard Inc. Sells 224 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $4,386,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 valued at $414,926,000 after acquiring an additional 388,363 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the first quarter valued at about $35,855,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 387.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 332,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,475,000 after purchasing an additional 264,247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PRU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Prudential Financial from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $118.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,082,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,461. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $117.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $87.95 and a one year high of $128.52.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 4.86%. The business had revenue of $13.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.78 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

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.