Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12,085.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 176.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,804,000 after purchasing an additional 665,180 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,303,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,535,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,851,000 after purchasing an additional 378,266 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,903,000 after purchasing an additional 344,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,047,872,000 after purchasing an additional 341,787 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE PRU opened at $106.16 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.15 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.54. The stock has a market cap of $38.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.28.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

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.