Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $43.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $39.63 and last traded at $39.51, with a volume of 100878 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.16.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $680,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,903,370.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 334,380 shares of company stock worth $12,198,971. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 143.1% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in Equitable by 1,421.4% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.35 and its 200-day moving average is $33.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.06 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 27.24%.

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.