Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $113.00 to $123.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.86% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $106.23.

Prudential Financial Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:PRU opened at $121.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.35 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.78.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter valued at about $3,507,481,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $209,055,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $157,752,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter worth $140,530,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.