Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $583,000 Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 8.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 9.3% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 167,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,638,000 after buying an additional 14,209 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 63.1% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 7,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,959 shares during the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP purchased a new position in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $520,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 103.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 4,519 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $322,027.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,705.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $322,027.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,705.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $115.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $117.89 and its 200-day moving average is $115.82. The firm has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.30. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.95 and a 12-month high of $128.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $13.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.78 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 4.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PRU shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.83.

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.