Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,414 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.72% of Prudential Financial worth $1,078,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,701,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,214,000 after purchasing an additional 62,366 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,044,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,321,000 after purchasing an additional 291,422 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,172,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,629,000 after purchasing an additional 17,030 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 897,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,321,000 after purchasing an additional 89,915 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 864,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,995 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PRU. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU opened at $100.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $119.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.47.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.