Bank of Nova Scotia Has $12.12 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 41.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 87,354 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $12,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,206,000 after purchasing an additional 958,672 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 183.3% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,588,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,156,000 after buying an additional 431,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $750,562,000 after buying an additional 420,081 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $105.46.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $119.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $41.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.27. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $120.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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