Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Equitable from “strong sell” to “hold,” adding to a generally positive Wall Street tone on the stock.
• Several other analysts recently maintained bullish views, with price targets ranging from $57 to $63; the overall consensus is a Moderate Buy and an average target of $58.64.
• Equitable recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue expectations, but executives also sold shares in June, while institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of the stock.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $43.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of -15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $42.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.04.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $1,797,616.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 765,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,680,087.84. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total value of $647,689.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 216,919 shares of company stock valued at $9,118,088 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Equitable by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 19,109 shares of the company's stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc NYSE: EQH is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.

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