Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $60.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $64.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 23.26% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on EQH. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Equitable in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.36.

Equitable Trading Down 1.2%

EQH opened at $48.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.37. The firm has a market cap of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. Equitable’s revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,742,389.46. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 173,770 shares of company stock valued at $8,120,014. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 592.6% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equitable

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.