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

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 932 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,354,248 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after acquiring an additional 388,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,251,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $114.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $41.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.07 and a 200-day moving average of $109.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $83.34 and a 12-month high of $121.39.

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

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total transaction of $15,425,008.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 202,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,960,981.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total value of $15,425,008.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 202,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,960,981.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the 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 $1,426,472.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PRU. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $121.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.25.

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.