Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 36.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on EQH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.75.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $49.84. The stock had a trading volume of 416,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,413,536. Equitable has a twelve month low of $33.38 and a twelve month high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average of $47.31. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Equitable by 700.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 608.1% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after buying an additional 1,261,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,955,000 after buying an additional 1,236,799 shares in 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.