Commerce Bank Has $2.03 Million Stock Position in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 7.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $2,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,571 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 97.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,874,000 after purchasing an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth $35,855,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,542,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,134,000 after buying an additional 305,143 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,226,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $127.89 on Friday. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.92 and a 52-week high of $129.13. The company has a market cap of $45.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.72.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Prudential Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $121.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.69.

Insider Activity

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

Prudential Financial 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.