Equitable (NYSE:EQH) PT Raised to $45.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EQH. Evercore ISI lifted 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. UBS Group cut Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $41.90.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $41.38 on Tuesday. Equitable has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $41.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.47.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $394,971.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 121,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,814,662.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $394,971.78. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,814,662.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 202,411 shares of company stock valued at $7,646,571. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 1,161.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,692,000 after buying an additional 7,227,568 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 1,105.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,242,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,390,000 after buying an additional 1,139,814 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,815,000 after acquiring an additional 781,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.