Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target Raised to $123.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $113.00 to $123.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $107.62.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $124.81 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.54 and its 200 day moving average is $105.09. The stock has a market cap of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.84. Prudential Financial has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $127.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 14.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRU. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,381,000 after buying an additional 210,959 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after buying an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,562,000 after buying an additional 420,081 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,089,000 after acquiring an additional 166,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.