Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $62.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price increased by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $60.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 31.98% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.08.

Equitable Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE EQH opened at $46.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of -16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $43.29 and its 200 day moving average is $42.92. Equitable has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total value of $609,353.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. This represents a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the sale, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. The trade was a 8.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 154,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,608,358. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.