Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.67.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $1,942,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 619,625 shares in the company, valued at $20,063,457.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $1,942,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 619,625 shares in the company, valued at $20,063,457.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 20,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $680,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 144,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,903,370.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 241,907 shares of company stock worth $8,338,649. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 88,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 71,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 27,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $37.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $38.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.41.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.04%.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.