Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $65.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.23% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equitable from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.18.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $53.18 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.32. Equitable has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The firm has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.07, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Craig MacKay sold 2,200 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director owned 18,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,978.63. This trade represents a 10.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its holdings in Equitable by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 19,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in Equitable by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Equitable by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 72,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.