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

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $62.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.83.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:EQH opened at $53.42 on Tuesday. Equitable has a 52 week low of $32.96 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Equitable by 20.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the last quarter. 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.