Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Prudential Financial “Reduce”: Five analysts recommend selling, 11 recommend holding and one recommends buying, with an average 12-month price target of $109.31 versus the stock’s $120.43 opening price.
• Prudential reported quarterly EPS of $4.08, exceeding the $3.52 consensus estimate, while revenue of $14.15 billion fell short of expectations. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share, representing a 4.6% annualized yield.
• Insiders recently sold shares, including an executive vice president’s $956,577 transaction, while institutional investors own 56.83% of the stock. Shares remain near their 12-month high, trading between $91.89 and $127.72.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $109.3077.

PRU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were 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 directly owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 10,014.4% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 63,173,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,818,360,000 after buying an additional 62,549,318 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,945,381,000 after acquiring an additional 210,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,078,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $750,562,000 after purchasing an additional 420,081 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Prudential Financial stock opened at $120.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prudential Financial has a 12-month low of $91.89 and a 12-month high of $127.72. The firm's fifty day moving average is $117.69 and its 200 day moving average is $106.17. The company has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.84.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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