Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Price

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) had its target price cut by analysts at Barclays from $96.00 to $94.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 17.24% from the company’s current price.

PRU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $123.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $107.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:PRU traded down $2.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $113.58. 783,680 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,016,666. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ann Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total value of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,407 shares in the company, valued at $1,801,019.07. This trade represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,164,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,593,000 after purchasing an additional 209,179 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Prudential Financial by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Prudential Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $209,055,000. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc (NYSE: PRU) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial products. Founded in Newark, New Jersey, in 1875, the company serves individuals, businesses and institutional investors through a range of businesses and distribution channels.

In the United States, Prudential offers life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, including group life, disability and dental insurance.