Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Wells Fargo & Company

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $104.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

PRU has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Mizuho set a $108.00 target price on Prudential Financial in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $108.46.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.0%

PRU opened at $113.42 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $118.66 and its 200 day moving average is $110.58. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.85.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 50.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRU. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in Prudential Financial by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 7,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $800,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,374,000 after purchasing an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 739,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,792,000 after purchasing an additional 19,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,593,000 after purchasing an additional 209,179 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc (NYSE: PRU) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial products. Founded in 1875 and headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, the company serves individual, institutional and workplace customers through businesses in the United States and selected international markets.

In the United States, Prudential offers life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and group insurance products, including coverage for employees and their families.