Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,027,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Prudential Financial worth $100,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $104.58.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU opened at $117.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $107.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.14. 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 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $120.53. The stock has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.85.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.61%.

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.