Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target Cut to $128.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $136.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PRU. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.15.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $115.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.35 and a 200-day moving average of $119.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $104.44 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,878,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $555,513,000 after acquiring an additional 897,916 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 176.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,804,000 after acquiring an additional 665,180 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,303,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 322.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 711,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,287,000 after acquiring an additional 542,964 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.