Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Receives $111.42 Consensus PT from Analysts

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.42.

Several analysts have recently commented on PRU shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Raymond James downgraded Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 9,281.4% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,354,248 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,478,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,926,000 after buying an additional 388,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the third quarter valued at $34,251,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $111.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.06 and a 200-day moving average of $104.21. The company has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Prudential Financial has a 12-month low of $77.22 and a 12-month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.44%.

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.