MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 2,894 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,894 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $11,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 60.7% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 6,209 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.0% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cadence Bank increased its position in Prudential Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 166,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRU. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $129.52 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.10 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $124.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.29.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total value of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Prudential Financial Company 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.