Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $129.00 to $127.00. The stock had previously closed at $120.06, but opened at $116.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Prudential Financial shares last traded at $115.89, with a volume of 194,752 shares changing hands.

PRU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

Insider Transactions at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRU. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,830,000 after buying an additional 15,695 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 79,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,597,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 162,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,701,000 after buying an additional 6,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 69,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,395,000 after purchasing an additional 10,964 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 6.03%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.22%.

About Prudential Financial

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.