Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.0833.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PRU. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Prudential Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prudential Financial news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total transaction of $438,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,358,132.90. This trade represents a 15.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $122,778,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the first quarter worth $90,010,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 19.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,206,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,777,000 after acquiring an additional 678,028 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,502,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,566,432,000 after acquiring an additional 600,482 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 49.2% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,192,000 after acquiring an additional 567,571 shares during the period. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.8%

PRU stock opened at $103.21 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $130.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.18 and a 200 day moving average of $104.74.

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

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.73%.

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.