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

Key Points

• Equitable Holdings, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from ten analysts, with one hold and nine buy ratings, and a twelve-month price target of $65.00.
• Insider transactions have seen COO Jeffrey J. Hurd and CEO Mark Pearson sell significant shares, decreasing their ownership by 6.56% and 4.03%, respectively.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of 87.10%.

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.00.

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, July 14th.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.96. 845,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,796,563. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.52 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.14. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $37.99 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $1,566,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 714,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,304,244.74. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,615.43. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,940,960 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Equitable by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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.