Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Barclays from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $130.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $117.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. Prudential Financial has a one year low of $100.60 and a one year high of $130.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.01. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $19.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential acquired 537,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.92 per share, for a total transaction of $14,999,992.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRU. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4,130.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,298,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,219,000 after buying an additional 1,267,571 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 176.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,041,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,804,000 after buying an additional 665,180 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 97.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 724,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,874,000 after buying an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 31.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,444,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,903,000 after buying an additional 344,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,662,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,047,872,000 after buying an additional 341,787 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.