Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PRU. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $110.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $109.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Down 0.6%

PRU stock opened at $117.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prudential Financial has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $127.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $120.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.33. The stock has a market cap of $40.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.83.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Research analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 50.72%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $197,348,010.75. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,593,000 after purchasing an additional 209,179 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,904,000 after purchasing an additional 26,414 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Prudential Financial by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 95.3% during 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 buying an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as The Widows and Orphans Friendly Society, the company has grown from a life insurance provider into a diversified business offering insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial services.

Through its U.S. businesses, Prudential provides individual life insurance and annuities, workplace retirement plans, pension risk transfer solutions, group life and disability insurance, and other benefits and financial wellness products.