AXQ Capital LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

AXQ Capital LP reduced its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 47.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,115 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. VCI Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 117.1% during the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 10,404 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 157,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,783,000 after acquiring an additional 76,461 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $1,285,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 22.0% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 108,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,291,000 after acquiring an additional 19,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 2,669.0% during the fourth quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich now owns 46,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,342,000 after acquiring an additional 45,293 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $102.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.41. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $119.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore restated a “negative” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, March 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price 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.