Analysts Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Price Target at $62.54

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.2308.

Several research firms recently commented on EQH. Zacks Research downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Equitable Stock Up 5.0%

EQH stock opened at $45.58 on Monday. Equitable has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 140.87% and a negative net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares in the company, valued at $29,185,935.60. The trade was a 5.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Equitable by 592.6% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.