Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target Raised to $115.00 at Evercore ISI

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $104.00 to $115.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on PRU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a c+ rating to an a- rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a neutral rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Prudential Financial from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $110.67.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE PRU opened at $109.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.37. Prudential Financial has a twelve month low of $77.22 and a twelve month high of $118.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by ($0.09). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $13.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is 77.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,315,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,801,000 after buying an additional 36,599 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 63,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 20,235 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $2,112,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 268,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,500,000 after purchasing an additional 34,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 868,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,076,000 after purchasing an additional 127,772 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.