AXQ Capital LP Takes $1.55 Million Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,554,000. Prudential Financial makes up approximately 0.6% of AXQ Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,566,432,000 after purchasing an additional 600,482 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,402,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,010,474,000 after buying an additional 163,874 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,408,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,817,000 after buying an additional 31,088 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,752,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $180,344,000 after buying an additional 32,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $122,778,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Prudential Financial from $133.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Jacques Chappuis bought 1,000 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $100.97 per share, with a total value of $100,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,970. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas D. Stoddard purchased 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $102.97 per share, for a total transaction of $25,742.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,742.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,408,389 shares of company stock valued at $35,154,439 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $100.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $119.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.47.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $15.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.48 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.32% and a net margin of 6.20%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 56.00%.

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.