Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 50,461 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,461 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 46.7% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 52,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,957,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 21.3% in the third quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 101,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,565,000 after purchasing an additional 17,862 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.8% in the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,354,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Robert E. Boyle sold 2,794 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.24, for a total transaction of $338,744.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $728,409.92. The trade was a 31.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Sullivan sold 3,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.32, for a total value of $429,958.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 50,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,458.44. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,135 shares of company stock worth $1,106,021 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $123.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,141,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,884,523. The company has a fifty day moving average of $117.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $128.78.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.44. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 16.38%. The company had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.96%.

More Prudential Financial News

These are some of the PRU news items that stood out recently:

• Neutral Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha article describes Prudential as being in transition after divestitures, pointing to a period of strategic change; the provided article information does not specify the expected financial impact. Prudential Is In Transition After Divestitures
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target from $103 to $113 but kept an “underweight” rating, implying it sees downside from the referenced share price. Wells Fargo rating
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho lifted its target from $116 to $120, yet maintained a “neutral” rating; its target also remained below the referenced share price, tempering the apparent positive signal. Mizuho rating

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $112.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $115.67.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as the Prudential Friendly Society, it has grown into a provider of insurance, retirement and investment services. The company offers life insurance, annuities, workplace benefits and retirement-related products and services. Through its asset management businesses, Prudential also serves individual and institutional investors. Prudential serves customers in the United States and operates internationally, with a significant presence in Japan and other markets.