Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target Cut to $141.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $143.00 to $141.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $125.00 to $121.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $115.08.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $117.53 on Friday. Prudential Financial has a 1-year low of $87.57 and a 1-year high of $121.39. The stock has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.96.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.66 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s revenue was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.41 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 652,884 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.57 per share, for a total transaction of $18,000,011.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,883,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert Falzon sold 130,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.57, for a total transaction of $15,425,008.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 202,083 shares in the company, valued at $23,960,981.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,367,000 after purchasing an additional 72,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,962,000 after buying an additional 1,354,248 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.