Truist Financial Corp Sells 75,391 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Truist Financial Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 679,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,391 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $70,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $356,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 9,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 76,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of PRU opened at $110.50 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.22 and a 52 week high of $118.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.75 and a 200-day moving average of $103.80.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PRU shares. Raymond James cut Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.42.

Prudential Financial 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.