Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors boosted its Prudential Financial stake by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, adding 12,455 shares to bring its total to 81,184 shares worth about $9.16 million.
• Prudential reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $3.61 per share on revenue of $15.23 billion, topping analyst estimates and improving from $3.29 per share a year earlier.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 5.5%, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average price target of $101.50.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,455 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $9,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 28,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,987,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mindset Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $102.71 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $119.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $35.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $98.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.56.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Prudential Financial's payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $101.50.

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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