Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $61.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $56.00 and last traded at $55.77, with a volume of 2218180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.52.

EQH has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

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

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 4.7 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.25. The stock has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. As a group, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

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.