Analysts Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Target Price at $64.55

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.5455.

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Equitable from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th.

Equitable Stock Up 2.2%

EQH stock opened at $50.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.06 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.14.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.10%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total value of $367,271.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 88,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,796,593.02. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.05, for a total value of $2,106,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,295,688.45. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,468 shares of company stock worth $10,250,470. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupe la Francaise increased its position in Equitable by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in Equitable by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,613,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Equitable by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Equitable by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.