Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $67.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 25.25% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.83.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.49. 139,722 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,597,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.01.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 743,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,346,877.36. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,998 shares of company stock valued at $6,345,563 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,512,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 513,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,217,000 after buying an additional 60,643 shares during the period. 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.