Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 728 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,220 shares of the company’s stock after selling 728 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Service Co. International by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $77.06 on Monday. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $67.19 and a 12-month high of $89.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.19 and a 200 day moving average of $80.22.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.06%.

About Service Co. International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering.