Royal Bank of Canada Sells 20,218 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,166,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,218 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $113,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after buying an additional 210,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,904,000 after buying an additional 26,414 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Prudential Financial by 4.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.2%

PRU opened at $122.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day moving average is $104.41. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $124.57.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $105.46.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.