Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Upgraded by Raymond James Financial to Strong-Buy Rating

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $58.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 38.10% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $42.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.79. Equitable has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of -8.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $574,894.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,579,696.12. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 102,371 shares of company stock valued at $4,343,870 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Equitable by 7,955.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,585,000 after buying an additional 2,394,721 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,640,000 after buying an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. Finally, London Co. of Virginia grew its holdings in Equitable by 4,141.8% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,726,000 after buying an additional 1,206,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

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.