Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $50.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.44. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable has a 52 week low of $33.91 and a 52 week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at $6,492,273.36. The trade was a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s 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 $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 111.2% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.