Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Cut to $59.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

EQH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.67.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $45.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable has a one year low of $35.49 and a one year high of $56.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth about $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,939,000. 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.