Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $67.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.83.

Equitable Trading Up 0.1%

EQH stock opened at $53.64 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.07. Equitable has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Equitable by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 501,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,076,000 after buying an additional 59,844 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,023,000. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 39,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in 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.