Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target Cut to $141.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

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

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

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $117.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $116.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.85. Prudential Financial has a 1 year low of $86.69 and a 1 year high of $121.39.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 15.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 88.44%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 5,189 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total value of $604,933.62. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,426,472.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 652,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.57 per share, with a total value of $18,000,011.88. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 3,883,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,065,062.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,386,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,452,000 after purchasing an additional 57,531 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,367,000 after purchasing an additional 72,696 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,248 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

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.