Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EQH. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.27.

Equitable Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $40.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable has a 1 year low of $39.36 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of -8.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,742,389.46. This trade represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 157,280 shares of company stock worth $7,455,677 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 592.6% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Equitable by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equitable

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.