Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Stock Holdings Increased by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,701,000 after purchasing an additional 6,641 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $156,000. PGGM Investments raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 98.0% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 64,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,533,000 after acquiring an additional 31,807 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 49.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 80,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 26,520 shares during the period. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $530,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.97, for a total transaction of $133,166.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,694.75. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 261,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.58 per share, for a total transaction of $7,200,007.22. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,208,549 shares in the company, valued at $116,071,781.42. This trade represents a 6.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU opened at $127.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.70. The firm has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.92 and a fifty-two week high of $129.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The firm had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PRU. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $118.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.69.

About Prudential Financial

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.