Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Price

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

PRU opened at $116.75 on Thursday. Prudential Financial has a 1-year low of $100.60 and a 1-year high of $130.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $41.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.26 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 46.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRU. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 376.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 61.7% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

About Prudential Financial

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.