Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $53.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $49.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.30 and its 200 day moving average is $43.71. Equitable has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $15.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.12 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 86.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 623.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. 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.