Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Price

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $129.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 11.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PRU. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $112.01 on Wednesday. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $104.44 and a fifty-two week high of $130.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 15.86%. On average, analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 65.9% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by 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.