Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $106.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $100.00 to $106.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 3.36% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Prudential Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.67.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock opened at $109.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $111.04 and a 200-day moving average of $102.57. Prudential Financial has a 12-month low of $77.22 and a 12-month high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.67 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total transaction of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.39, for a total value of $782,792.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,386,192,000 after buying an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,613,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $628,529,000 after buying an additional 111,170 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,378,000 after buying an additional 413,421 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,839,000 after buying an additional 356,957 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after purchasing an additional 197,422 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.