Morgan Stanley Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Equitable (NYSE:EQH)

Equitable (NYSE:EQH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $68.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $67.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 31.17% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on EQH. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $51.84 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.87. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total transaction of $1,595,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 724,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,521,837.06. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $264,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,358,352.43. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,666 shares of company stock worth $4,012,008 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 267.2% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,779,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $566,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Equitable by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 83,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. 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.