Wells Fargo & Company Raises Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Price Target to $115.00

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $115.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 2.06% from the company’s current price.

PRU has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $118.80.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $117.42. 75,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,418,111. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Prudential Financial has a twelve month low of $90.38 and a twelve month high of $123.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.27 and a 200 day moving average of $106.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.97.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In other news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.69, for a total value of $861,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,242,204.15. The trade was a 40.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles F. Lowrey sold 48,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.39, for a total value of $5,172,331.96. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 165,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,779,917.96. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 62,719 shares of company stock worth $6,796,067 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prudential Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 312.8% in the third quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 12,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,183 shares during the last quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp bought a new stake in Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,662,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 384,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,878,000 after purchasing an additional 85,072 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,192,000 after purchasing an additional 567,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 40,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,176,000 after buying an additional 9,741 shares during the period. 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.