Analysts Set Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) PT at $121.92

Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.92.

PRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $136.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE:PRU opened at $106.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.31. Prudential Financial has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.12 EPS. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.98, for a total value of $635,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,869,090.56. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 52,595 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.52 per share, with a total value of $1,500,009.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,992,429.24. This represents a 60.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Prudential Financial by 16.3% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $148,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 16,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 124,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,949,000 after buying an additional 54,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 91,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,247,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

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.