Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $54.62 and last traded at $54.24, with a volume of 592294 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.67.

Equitable Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.76 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.86.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 81.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 102,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after buying an additional 46,027 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $162,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 63.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 954,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,010,000 after acquiring an additional 369,981 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 14,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 623.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equitable

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.