Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.4615.

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at about $9,466,000. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,323,000. First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,231,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $769,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $593,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $121.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $127.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $112.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

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.