Element Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Element Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 723 shares during the quarter. Element Wealth LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 7.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 91.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 23.4% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1,995.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 4,689 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.33.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PRU stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $112.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,367,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,519,289. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $77.22 and a one year high of $118.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 77.73%.

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.