Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.10.

Several research firms have commented on EQH. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Equitable Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $47.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $50.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a PE ratio of -43.58 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.29.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,239,842. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $109,000. 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.