Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at Morgan Stanley

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.40% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $53.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable has a 12-month low of $32.96 and a 12-month high of $54.82. The company has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.00 and its 200-day moving average is $45.70.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. The trade was a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 125,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,165,071 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Equitable by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after acquiring an additional 957,828 shares in the last quarter. 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.