Evercore ISI Raises Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $116.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $115.00 to $116.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.46% from the company’s previous close.

PRU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. 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 given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.42.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of PRU stock traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $111.05. 103,912 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,498,527. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial has a one year low of $77.22 and a one year high of $118.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 14.52% and a net margin of 4.89%. The business had revenue of $13.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Prudential Financial will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,642,656.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,292,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,386,192,000 after buying an additional 5,154,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Prudential Financial by 0.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,317,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $599,452,000 after acquiring an additional 57,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,353,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,064,000 after buying an additional 197,422 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,000,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,926,000 after purchasing an additional 388,363 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,346,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,367,000 after purchasing an additional 72,696 shares in 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.