Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $53.00 to $61.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EQH. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.58.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4 %

EQH opened at $55.77 on Wednesday. Equitable has a 1-year low of $32.96 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 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.