Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $112.40

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Prudential has a consensus “Reduce” rating from 17 analysts—six sell, nine hold and two buy—with an average 12-month price target of $112.40.
• Latest quarterly results were mixed: Earnings of $3.77 per share beat estimates of $3.33, while revenue of $14.45 billion fell short of the $14.66 billion forecast.
• Prudential declared a $1.40-per-share quarterly dividend; meanwhile, three executives sold a combined 9,135 shares on November 6.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Reduce" from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.40.

PRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $119.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th.

Trending Headlines about Prudential Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting Prudential Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Prudential declared a quarterly common-stock dividend of $1.40 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 24. The payout may support PRU’s appeal to income-focused investors; the announcement did not specify a dividend increase. Dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Three executives sold a combined 9,135 shares on November 6 for roughly $1.11 million. CEO Andrew F. Sullivan sold 3,544 shares; EVP Ann Kappler sold 2,797; and SVP Robert E. Boyle sold 2,794. The transactions may weigh on sentiment, though the filings do not state the executives’ reasons. Read More., Read More., Read More.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 2,797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.60, for a total transaction of $337,318.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,746,529.20. This trade represents a 16.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert E. Boyle sold 2,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.24, for a total transaction of $338,744.56. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $728,409.92. This represents a 31.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 16,787 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,597 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,852,593,000 after purchasing an additional 209,179 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,055,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $123.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $117.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.10. Prudential Financial has a 1 year low of $91.89 and a 1 year high of $128.78. The company has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.85.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $14.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.66 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.38% and a net margin of 6.75%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.60 earnings per share for the current year.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as the Prudential Friendly Society, it has grown into a provider of insurance, retirement and investment services. The company offers life insurance, annuities, workplace benefits and retirement-related products and services. Through its asset management businesses, Prudential also serves individual and institutional investors. Prudential serves customers in the United States and operates internationally, with a significant presence in Japan and other markets.

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