Brokerages Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) PT at $61.82

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.8182.

Several analysts have commented on EQH shares. Mizuho set a $68.00 price objective on Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 1,466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total value of $74,985.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,684.75. This trade represents a 5.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig C. Mackay sold 2,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $975,978.63. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,736 shares of company stock valued at $3,398,996. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the second quarter worth approximately $1,136,305,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Equitable by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $550,995,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth $399,576,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Equitable by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,784,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,485,000 after purchasing an additional 523,638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.3%

EQH stock opened at $54.03 on Tuesday. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $55.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The firm has a market cap of $14.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.48.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -36.25%.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, life insurance and wealth management solutions. Its businesses serve individuals, families, employers and institutions through financial professionals and advisory channels.

The company’s principal operations include Equitable, which offers individual life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, and Equitable Advisors, which provides financial planning and investment advice. Equitable Holdings also owns a majority interest in AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm serving institutional and retail clients.

The company traces its history to 1859, when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was founded.