Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.75.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $51.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.48 and a 12 month high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. The trade was a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 105,032 shares of company stock worth $5,443,966. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

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.