Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,010 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $13,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 36.4% in the second quarter. Crews Bank & Trust now owns 547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $118.60.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $118.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $111.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.90. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $123.88.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.60%. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.18%.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,204.15. This represents a 40.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 6,555 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total transaction of $762,215.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,618,974.44. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.