Norges Bank Makes New $140.53 Million Investment in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,244,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $140,530,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.36% of Prudential Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. VCI Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 117.1% in the 4th quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 10,404 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Prudential Financial by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 157,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,783,000 after purchasing an additional 76,461 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,285,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 22.0% in the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 108,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,291,000 after purchasing an additional 19,600 shares during the period. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich grew its position in Prudential Financial by 2,669.0% in the 4th quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 46,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,342,000 after buying an additional 45,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on PRU shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $103.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.89 and a 52-week high of $119.76.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.