Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.63 and last traded at $51.16, with a volume of 28304 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $49.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of -47.30 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50-day moving average price is $47.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.99.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable's payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,032 shares of company stock worth $4,699,759. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in 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 buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Equitable by 86.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Equitable by 623.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.