Brokerages Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Price Target at $57.75

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.75.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Barclays upped their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,032 shares of company stock worth $5,443,966 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Equitable by 700.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,837 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 608.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,466 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 237.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,799 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $52.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $52.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a 1-year low of $35.49 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

About Equitable

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.