Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Has $40,000 Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 94.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,040 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 7,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 5,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total transaction of $782,792.58. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on PRU shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.33.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Prudential Financial stock opened at $110.61 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $77.22 and a one year high of $118.69. The company has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.30 and a 200-day moving average of $103.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The firm had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.73%.

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.