Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $62.00 to $66.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.17.

Equitable Stock Up 1.7 %

Equitable stock opened at $55.03 on Friday. Equitable has a 1-year low of $32.96 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at $6,492,273.36. This trade represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 33.2% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its position in Equitable by 61.4% during 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 last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.