Morgan Stanley Raises Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $117.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $117.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PRU. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $104.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a c+ rating to an a- rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $111.33.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $108.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.94. The firm has a market cap of $39.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial has a 1 year low of $77.22 and a 1 year high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,504.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,386,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154,865 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $628,529,000 after buying an additional 111,170 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,378,000 after acquiring an additional 413,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,839,000 after acquiring an additional 356,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after purchasing an additional 197,422 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Company 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.