Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $60.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.20.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $49.36 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.28 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.65. Equitable has a 52-week low of $31.76 and a 52-week high of $50.51.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. 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 1.94%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $1,332,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares in the company, valued at $29,239,842. The trade was a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Equitable by 623.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.