Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Cut to $53.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.02% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.18.

Equitable Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.97 on Tuesday, hitting $49.99. The stock had a trading volume of 494,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,576. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.86 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.87. Equitable has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $50.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $1,422,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,760,963.65. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,032 shares of company stock valued at $4,699,759. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Equitable by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.