Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,244,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $140,530,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VCI Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 117.1% in the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 10,404 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 157,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after purchasing an additional 76,461 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth $1,285,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 22.0% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 108,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,291,000 after buying an additional 19,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2,669.0% during the 4th quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 46,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after acquiring an additional 45,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $103.38 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $119.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.35 and a 200-day moving average of $104.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut Prudential Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target 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.