Morgan Stanley Cuts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $54.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $59.00 to $54.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.64.

Equitable Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $39.77 on Tuesday. Equitable has a twelve month low of $37.51 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.25, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 157,280 shares of company stock valued at $7,455,677. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,861 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after buying an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth $703,060,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 26.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Equitable by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.