Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives $64.18 Average Price Target from Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $64.3333.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $48.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The stock has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.50 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61.

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 negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This trade represents a 21.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 676,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 180,658 shares of company stock valued at $8,927,601. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 592.6% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.