Wesbanco Bank Inc. Decreases Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 3.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 952 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,960,547,000 after purchasing an additional 220,671 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,050,635,000 after purchasing an additional 193,681 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $555,513,000 after purchasing an additional 897,916 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,410,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,230,000 after acquiring an additional 352,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,454,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 87,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.72 per share, for a total transaction of $2,499,989.84. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 87,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,499,989.84. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total transaction of $635,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $105.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $90.38 and a one year high of $130.55. The stock has a market cap of $37.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 85.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $134.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.15.

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.