Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,963 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $5,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 11,630 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,005,000 after buying an additional 4,895 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $124.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $96.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.7%

Prudential Financial stock opened at $100.95 on Thursday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.32. The company has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 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.