Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.91.

EQH has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. The trade was a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock worth $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company's stock worth $74,126,000 after buying an additional 1,367,837 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 608.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,289,000 after buying an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,955,000 after buying an additional 1,236,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.44. 4,802,470 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,623,830. The stock has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.23. 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's fifty day moving average price is $51.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.94. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.49 and a 12 month high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.13%.

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.