Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $9.16 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,455 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $9,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 183.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 209.2% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 520,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,871,000 after purchasing an additional 351,849 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at $32,894,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,044,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,321,000 after purchasing an additional 291,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the third quarter valued at $26,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Weiss Ratings cut Prudential Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 1.4%

PRU stock opened at $102.71 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $119.76. The firm has a market cap of $35.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.25 and its 200-day moving average is $104.56. 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 (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share 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 company 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 posted $3.29 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Profile

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.