Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $123.00

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price objective (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Argus cut shares of Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.23.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of PRU stock opened at $121.95 on Tuesday. Prudential Financial has a twelve month low of $91.89 and a twelve month high of $127.72. The company has a market capitalization of $42.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $113.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.78. 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 (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.The company had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 11,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

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.