Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Equitable shares reached a new 52-week high of $55.67, trading above both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $63.18, implying potential upside.
• Equitable exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.70 in EPS versus $1.65 expected, although revenue fell 29.8% year over year and insiders have recently sold shares.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $55.67 and last traded at $55.2320, with a volume of 73,593 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $52.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arlene Isaacs-Lowe sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $52,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,044,079.29. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,816 shares of company stock worth $1,731,591 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,136,305,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at $399,576,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Equitable by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,784,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $385,485,000 after buying an additional 523,638 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at about $244,052,000. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,142,337 shares of the company's stock worth $225,646,000 after purchasing an additional 148,132 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc NYSE: EQH is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and wealth management solutions to individuals, families and institutions. Its businesses offer life insurance, annuities, investment products, retirement planning and financial advice.

Through Equitable, the company provides life insurance and retirement products, while Equitable Advisors offers financial planning, investment advisory and insurance services through a network of financial professionals.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.