JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price decreased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $58.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 33.83% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.23.

Equitable Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of EQH stock traded down $1.46 on Thursday, hitting $43.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,014,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,017,647. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the second quarter valued at approximately $703,060,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 49.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth about $101,547,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Equitable by 71.5% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,958,000 after buying an additional 1,486,286 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.