Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $41.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $39.67.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $35.65 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $38.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.17.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.04%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $1,942,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 619,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,063,457.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $170,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,367.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $1,942,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 619,625 shares in the company, valued at $20,063,457.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 241,907 shares of company stock worth $8,338,649 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equitable by 109.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 227,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,021,000 after buying an additional 118,874 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 35.1% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 9,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Equitable by 2.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 309,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,567,000 after buying an additional 7,745 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 6.2% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. 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.