Zacks Research Downgrades Equitable (NYSE:EQH) to Strong Sell

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.54.

Equitable Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE EQH opened at $45.64 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.68. Equitable has a twelve month low of $41.39 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,621,845.95. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Equitable by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after acquiring an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth $1,869,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 3,423 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.