Morgan Stanley Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Equitable (NYSE:EQH)

Equitable (NYSE:EQH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $68.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $67.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 31.17% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $51.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Equitable has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $264,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,358,352.43. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total value of $1,595,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 724,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,521,837.06. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,666 shares of company stock valued at $4,012,008. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 267.2% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,779,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $566,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Equitable by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 83,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,931,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.