JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $65.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.09.

Equitable Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Equitable stock traded down $0.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,572,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,545,906. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.78.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's payout ratio is 29.35%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $264,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,358,352.43. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 117,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,993,760 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.