Wall Street Zen Downgrades Equitable (NYSE:EQH) to Sell

Key Points

• Equitable has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" to a "sell" rating, indicating a negative outlook for the company's stock.
• Despite the downgrade, other brokerages have positive ratings for Equitable, including a "strong-buy" from Wolfe Research and several "overweight" ratings with price targets around $65.
• Insider trading activity shows significant share sales by top executives, with COO Jeffrey J. Hurd reducing his position by over 8%, highlighting potential concerns about the company's performance.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EQH. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.45.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $47.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.27 and a 200-day moving average of $51.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Equitable has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.25 and a beta of 1.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.99, for a total transaction of $332,642.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 75,098 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,051.02. The trade was a 8.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.86, for a total transaction of $134,836.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,348,411.86. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,258 shares of company stock valued at $7,449,913 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 592.6% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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