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

Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) gapped down before the market opened 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.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PRU. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI raised Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 approximately $133,465,780.56. The trade was a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter worth $1,529,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in Prudential Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 3,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its position in Prudential Financial by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $42.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.