Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its Prudential Financial stake by 45.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 108,060 shares valued at about $12.2 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to their positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 56.83% of Prudential Financial’s stock.
• Prudential reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with earnings of $3.61 per share versus the $3.09 estimate, and it declared a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share, yielding about 5.4%.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 45.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,932 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $12,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,701,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,214,000 after acquiring an additional 62,366 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,044,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,321,000 after acquiring an additional 291,422 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,172,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $121,629,000 after acquiring an additional 17,030 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,095,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,526 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 897,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,321,000 after acquiring an additional 89,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PRU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $104.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.58. The firm has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.86. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $119.76.

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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. Analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Company 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.

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