Swiss National Bank Purchases 62,300 Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,027,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $100,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Prudential Financial by 30.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.5% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRU. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $104.58.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $117.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.14. 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 $120.53. The stock has a market cap of $40.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.85.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $15.23 billion during 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 business posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.79 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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