UBS Group Cuts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $75.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $77.00 to $75.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.67.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $53.51 on Tuesday. Equitable has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.33.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Equitable’s payout ratio is 29.35%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares in the company, valued at $35,346,877.36. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable during the first quarter worth about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.