Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.75.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Prudential Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $105.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,122,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,939. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.07. Prudential Financial has a 52 week low of $90.38 and a 52 week high of $130.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.76 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 3.84%. Prudential Financial's quarterly revenue was down 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. Prudential Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,168,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,744,723.04. This trade represents a 112.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $253,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 82,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,774,000 after buying an additional 9,196 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in Prudential Financial by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 3,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company's stock.

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.