Wall Street Zen Upgrades Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) to “Buy”

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $104.58.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU opened at $119.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $41.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $107.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.11. Prudential Financial has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $120.53.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,630 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 15.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.