Webster Bank N. A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Webster Bank N. A. reduced its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,238 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,386,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,367,000 after purchasing an additional 72,696 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,248 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.08.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $117.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,257,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,310. The firm has a market cap of $42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.69 and a 1-year high of $121.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.85. 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 (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,426,472.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 price 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.