Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $60.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.72% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.92.

Equitable Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $46.98 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.96. Equitable has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $310,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,694.88. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at $32,853,688.29. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,248 shares of company stock worth $6,608,358. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Essential Partners LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 245.2% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Equitable News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS Group raised its price target on Equitable Holdings (EQH) to $68.00, signaling meaningful upside confidence. Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $68.00 at UBS Group
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo increased its target to $60.00 from $57.00 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a constructive outlook for EQH. Equitable had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its target to $62.00 from $61.00 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst momentum. Equitable had its price target raised by Mizuho from $61.00 to $62.00
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays kept a Buy rating on Equitable Holdings, which supports investor sentiment even without a target change. Barclays Keeps Their Buy Rating on Equitable Holdings (EQH)
• Neutral Sentiment: Equitable’s institutional holdings update is informational and does not by itself signal a clear near-term catalyst for the stock. Equitable Holdings, Inc. Common Stock (EQH) Institutional Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable Holdings to Peer Perform from outperform, which tempers the otherwise positive analyst tone. Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Downgraded to Peer Perform Rating by Wolfe Research

Equitable Company Profile

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.