Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $44.59 and last traded at $44.49, with a volume of 486507 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.70.

Equitable Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.31. The company has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.41. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 29.72%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,596.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,500 shares of company stock worth $2,637,870. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. &PARTNERS grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 34,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 17,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.