KBC Group NV Grows Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 197.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 469,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 311,640 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.13% of Prudential Financial worth $45,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,206,000 after acquiring an additional 958,672 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 183.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,440,000 after acquiring an additional 520,425 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after acquiring an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 351,849 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRU. Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $104.58.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $117.97 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $120.53. The company has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.