Czech National Bank Increases Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Czech National Bank grew its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,464 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $9,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PRU. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,571 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,804,000 after purchasing an additional 665,180 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 97.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,874,000 after purchasing an additional 357,300 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after buying an additional 344,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after buying an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $117.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.60 and a 1 year high of $130.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.38 and its 200 day moving average is $120.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.