Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives $64.18 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.3333.

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Equitable Stock Up 0.5%

EQH opened at $48.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total transaction of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,742,389.46. This trade represents a 20.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 210,658 shares of company stock valued at $10,111,966 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the first quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 592.6% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.