Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $58.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $47.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.64.

Equitable Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.14. 3,386,207 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,483,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a 12 month low of $31.76 and a 12 month high of $50.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.78. The company has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.16 and a beta of 1.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company'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 will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock worth $6,031,759 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Equitable by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 6,336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Equitable by 700.3% during the 4th 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 period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth approximately $458,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,410 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.