Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $61.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $56.00 and last traded at $55.77, with a volume of 2218180 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.52.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Equitable by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,705,000 after purchasing an additional 535,671 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,752,000 after buying an additional 79,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after acquiring an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.10. The company has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a P/E 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

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.