Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 3,955 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,955 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,007,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,059,549,000 after purchasing an additional 49,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after acquiring an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,134,000 after acquiring an additional 305,143 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,058,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,327,000 after purchasing an additional 47,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PRU shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen increased 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $117.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.29 and a 200-day moving average of $120.68. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.60 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) 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 return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.22%.

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.