Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $53.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $51.56 and last traded at $51.56, with a volume of 171 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.11.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock worth $6,031,759. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Equitable by 623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.30 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.71.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

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.