Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PRU. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Prudential Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $118.60.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $118.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.90. Prudential Financial has a 1 year low of $90.38 and a 1 year high of $123.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.65%.The firm had revenue of $8.35 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 74.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total value of $5,172,331.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,779,917.96. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total transaction of $861,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,242,204.15. This represents a 40.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,719 shares of company stock valued at $6,796,067. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 30.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth about $229,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 5.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the first quarter valued at about $2,150,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.