Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.64.

EQH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total value of $1,266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,469 shares of company stock valued at $3,067,434 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the first quarter worth $45,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 1,421.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 26.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 261.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $41.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. Equitable has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Equitable’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Equitable Company Profile

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.