Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EQH. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.45.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $48.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.90. Equitable has a 1-year low of $41.39 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 87.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $1,991,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 140,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,573,932. This represents a 20.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.99, for a total value of $332,642.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 75,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,679,051.02. This trade represents a 8.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 139,258 shares of company stock valued at $7,449,913. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at approximately $703,060,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,264,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,109,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071,691 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061,496 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,319,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.