Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on EQH. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Equitable from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.18.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $52.82 on Monday. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $55.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.96, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -36.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Craig C. Mackay sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,978.63. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total value of $1,927,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,570,181.62. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,201.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $346,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,128,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.