Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 38.58% from the company’s current price.

EQH has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.74. 1,265,939 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,834,549. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.21 and a beta of 1.17. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.17, for a total transaction of $1,912,349.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 689,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,191,056.80. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,600 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.86, for a total value of $134,836.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,411.86. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 178,958 shares of company stock worth $9,362,262 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 310.2% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 13,120 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 18.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,168,000 after buying an additional 615,314 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth about $255,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $434,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.