Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $61.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has lowered its price target for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from $67.00 to $61.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating, indicating a potential upside of 19.63% from the current stock price.
• Equitable currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with a target price averaging $64.00.
• Insiders at Equitable sold significant shares recently, with COO Jeffrey J. Hurd and CEO Mark Pearson decreasing their holdings by 7.11% and 5.35%, respectively.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $67.00 to $61.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.63% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Equitable to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Equitable Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE EQH traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $50.99. The company had a trading volume of 422,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,829,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.12. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $15.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.09, for a total transaction of $367,271.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 88,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,796,593.02. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.05, for a total transaction of $2,106,085.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,295,688.45. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,468 shares of company stock worth $10,250,470 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $338,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 116.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,229 shares of the company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,275 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,539 shares of the company's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,371 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 97.7% during the 1st quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 127,100 shares of the company's stock worth $6,621,000 after purchasing an additional 62,800 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.

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