Morgan Stanley Boosts Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $117.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has increased its target price for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) from $113.00 to $117.00, projecting a potential upside of 10.42% from the current price.
• Despite the price increase by Morgan Stanley, several analysts have issued mixed ratings, with one sell rating, ten hold ratings, and one buy rating, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold."
• Prudential Financial reported earnings of $3.58 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.36, although revenue decreased by 2.5% year-over-year.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.42% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PRU. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $122.08.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $105.96. The stock had a trading volume of 167,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,815. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.16. The firm has a market cap of $37.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $13.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.47 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 2.75%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. The trade was a 112.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,566,432,000 after purchasing an additional 600,482 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,402,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,010,474,000 after acquiring an additional 163,874 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $555,513,000 after acquiring an additional 897,916 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $495,859,000 after buying an additional 116,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,777,000 after buying an additional 678,028 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Life, and International Businesses segments.

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