Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Receives $118.80 Average PT from Analysts

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $118.80.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PRU shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $111.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $39.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $112.09 and its 200 day moving average is $107.21. 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 has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $123.88.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $4.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $17.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.77 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 18th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 74.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,242,204.15. This trade represents a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Feeney sold 6,555 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total transaction of $762,215.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,523 shares in the company, valued at $2,618,974.44. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $122,778,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,566,432,000 after purchasing an additional 600,482 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 49.2% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,192,000 after purchasing an additional 567,571 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 804,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,440,000 after purchasing an additional 520,425 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,552,000. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

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.