Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $54.62 and last traded at $54.24, with a volume of 592294 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equitable in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.71. The company has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.53 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $417,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $534,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 722,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,058,000 after buying an additional 10,164 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently 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.