Wells Fargo & Company Increases Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $62.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $62.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.83.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $54.10 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable has a 52 week low of $32.96 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Trust acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $222,000. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Equitable by 87.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 84,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,969,000 after buying an additional 39,354 shares during the period. Invst LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 24,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 154.4% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 26,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 16,039 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.