Analysts Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Price Target at $60.64

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.5455.

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, January 14th.

Equitable Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of EQH opened at $35.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.39, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.02.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 76,490 shares of company stock worth $3,587,184 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in Equitable by 8.2% during the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Equitable by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFC Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by 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.