Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,144 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $10,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position 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 valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,423,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PRU. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $126.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,072 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 87,047 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.72 per share, for a total transaction of $2,499,989.84. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 87,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,499,989.84. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

PRU traded up $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,407,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,438,519. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.45 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The stock has a market cap of $41.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.01.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is 72.29%.

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.