Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PRU. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $122.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.15.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $109.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.87 and a 200 day moving average of $109.26. Prudential Financial has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $130.55. The firm has a market cap of $38.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.11. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The company had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.12 earnings per share. Prudential Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 85.58%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 1,675,978 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.64 per share, with a total value of $48,000,009.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 3,168,461 shares in the company, valued at $90,744,723.04. This represents a 112.29% 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 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,850,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,960,547,000 after purchasing an additional 220,671 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,856,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,050,635,000 after purchasing an additional 193,681 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,686,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $555,513,000 after purchasing an additional 897,916 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,440,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,859,000 after purchasing an additional 116,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 678,028 shares in the last quarter. 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.