Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $44.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group downgraded Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $41.61 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.76. Equitable has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $41.95. The company has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.43.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $394,971.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 121,521 shares in the company, valued at $4,814,662.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 202,411 shares of company stock valued at $7,646,571 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 42.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 58,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,674 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 243.3% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 4,718 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.