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

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.18.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $1,422,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares in the company, valued at $30,760,963.65. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $53.17 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.44. 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 has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of -48.78 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $53.28.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

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

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.