Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Research Coverage Started at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $53.14 on Thursday. Equitable has a 12-month low of $31.76 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a PE ratio of -48.75 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.32 and its 200-day moving average is $44.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. The trade was a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,735,000 after buying an additional 161,376 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Equitable by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after buying an additional 54,380 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after buying an additional 68,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 7.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.