BMO Capital Markets Increases Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $72.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $69.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 36.39% from the company’s current price.

EQH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.83.

Equitable Stock Down 1.0 %

EQH stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,041,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,146. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable has a 52-week low of $32.96 and a 52-week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth 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 period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its stake in Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.