Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Increased to $51.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $46.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.00.

Equitable Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $40.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.33. Equitable has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $41.95.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equitable will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,129,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 695,025 shares in the company, valued at $26,174,641.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total value of $1,129,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 695,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,174,641.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares in the company, valued at $4,814,662.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 232,411 shares of company stock valued at $8,776,371 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 143.1% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equitable

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.