Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.33.

EQH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during 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. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $50.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The company has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.49.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 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.