Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,690 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 7.4% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,830,000 after acquiring an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PRU stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $121.89. 1,192,581 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,599,330. The company's 50-day moving average price is $121.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.66. The company has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.60 and a 12 month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.