Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Shares Sold by Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.

Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 1.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 151.6% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 652,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $117.26. The company had a trading volume of 353,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,475,792. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.65. The firm has a market cap of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.04 and a fifty-two week high of $121.39.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

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.