National Pension Service Purchases 36,452 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 606,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,452 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $68,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $100.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.89 and a 12 month high of $119.76. The company has a market cap of $34.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.29 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.