Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $65.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $56.83 and last traded at $55.24, with a volume of 109,475 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.24.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on EQH. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Equitable from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.35, for a total transaction of $151,093.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,279.75. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig C. Mackay sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.27, for a total transaction of $108,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,535.73. This trade represents a 10.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,816 shares of company stock worth $1,731,591. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $531,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 301.4% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $330,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $479,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 1.0% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 5,618,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,086,000 after buying an additional 57,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.92 and a 200-day moving average of $45.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.27. Equitable had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 636.12%. The company had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 167.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and wealth management solutions to individuals, families and institutions. Its businesses offer life insurance, annuities, investment products, retirement planning and financial advice.

Through Equitable, the company provides life insurance and retirement products, while Equitable Advisors offers financial planning, investment advisory and insurance services through a network of financial professionals.