Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.58.

Several research firms have weighed in on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4 %

EQH traded up $0.25 on Monday, hitting $55.77. 2,218,180 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,880,312. Equitable has a 12 month low of $32.96 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQH. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 43.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,998 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in Equitable by 3.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 206.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,358 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Equitable by 46.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 359,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,131,000 after acquiring an additional 113,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 673,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,302,000 after acquiring an additional 113,856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

About Equitable

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.