Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.58.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Equitable Trading Down 4.7 %

NYSE:EQH opened at $51.44 on Monday. Equitable has a 1 year low of $32.96 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.91 and a 200-day moving average of $46.38. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $1,419,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

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.