Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sets New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $56.16 and last traded at $55.99, with a volume of 745116 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Equitable Stock Up 3.1%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. Equitable's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were 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 now owns 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,702.61. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 117,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,993,760 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $108,264,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,109,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,071,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter worth about $99,319,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.