Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.33.

EQH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th.

Equitable Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Equitable stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,173,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,619,906. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.59. Equitable has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equitable's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total value of $1,426,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 743,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,346,877.36. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 501,498 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,076,000 after acquiring an additional 59,844 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Equitable by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 388,430 shares of the company's stock worth $16,326,000 after buying an additional 11,085 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company's stock worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 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.