Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $61.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.92.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $55.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.82. The company has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable has a 52-week low of $32.96 and a 52-week high of $55.78.

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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 125,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,165,071 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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 worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.