Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $68.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 36.43% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on EQH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Equitable Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE EQH traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $49.84. 416,510 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,413,536. The company has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average of $47.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable has a twelve month low of $33.38 and a twelve month high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,725 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.