Morgan Stanley Boosts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $61.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $61.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.18% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Equitable Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $55.36 on Friday. Equitable has a 1 year low of $32.96 and a 1 year high of $55.78. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.81. The company has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 125,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,165,071 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equitable by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,705,000 after purchasing an additional 535,671 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after buying an additional 79,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $668,250,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after acquiring an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.