Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 2,708 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,708 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 7,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PRU. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total transaction of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $110.61 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.22 and a fifty-two week high of $118.69. 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 company has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.06.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS 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 company had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

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.