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

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.92.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 125,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,165,071. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. CWM LLC raised its position in Equitable by 43.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Equitable by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 206.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 5,358 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Equitable by 46.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 359,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,131,000 after buying an additional 113,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 673,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,302,000 after buying an additional 113,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $55.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a 1 year low of $32.96 and a 1 year high of $55.78. The company has a market cap of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $50.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.82.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. 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.