Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives $55.92 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.58.

EQH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $55.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable has a 52-week low of $32.96 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.69 and a 200-day moving average of $46.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.