Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $65.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.54.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $45.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.68. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 118.3% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth approximately $321,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Equitable by 3.9% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 99,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kendall Capital Management raised its stake in Equitable by 2.5% in the second quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 118,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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.