Brokerages Set Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Price Target at $46.64

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.64.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays initiated coverage on Equitable in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $42.21 on Friday. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.68. The firm has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.72%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $819,596.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,469 shares of company stock valued at $3,067,434. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. &PARTNERS raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.7% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 34,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 4.8% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 88,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 71,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,397,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.