Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Raised to "Buy" at UBS Group

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $77.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $49.00. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 76.67% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH traded down $1.52 on Wednesday, reaching $43.58. 2,379,843 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,584,799. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.84. Equitable has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,003,705,000 after acquiring an additional 535,671 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Equitable by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company's stock worth $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $668,250,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th 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. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.