Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $63.09

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.18.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Zacks Research raised shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,856,772.68. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig MacKay sold 2,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,999 shares in the company, valued at $975,978.63. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,136,305,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Equitable in the second quarter valued at approximately $399,576,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Equitable by 6.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,784,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,485,000 after purchasing an additional 523,638 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equitable during the second quarter valued at $244,052,000. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE EQH opened at $53.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.14, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.21. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.20 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.