Citigroup Increases Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $53.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $41.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.71% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group lowered Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.45.

Equitable Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:EQH traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $42.16. 183,368 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,657,366. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.30. Equitable has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $43.53. The firm has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.43.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,411 shares of company stock worth $6,627,658 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 228,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,477,000 after buying an additional 61,598 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $1,573,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 194,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,479,000 after buying an additional 38,233 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $894,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.