Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $67.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $67.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Equitable from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.50.

Equitable Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE EQH traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $56.17. 1,751,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,518,639. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.06.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.75 billion. Equitable had a negative return on equity of 3,089.96% and a net margin of 11.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 167.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.20 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Investors of record on Monday, November 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 23rd. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 23.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,780 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.35, for a total value of $151,093.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,287,279.75. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 110,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,703 shares of company stock worth $1,106,964 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,136,305,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth $399,576,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at $244,052,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at $208,146,000. Finally, Conifer Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at $184,296,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc. is a financial services company focused on retirement, protection and wealth management. Through its Equitable business, it offers products and services including life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and retirement planning solutions to individuals, employers and institutions. The company also has a majority ownership interest in AllianceBernstein, an investment management and research firm that serves institutional and individual clients. AllianceBernstein operates internationally, while Equitable’s insurance and retirement businesses primarily serve customers in the United States.