Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Cut to $67.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $67.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.90.

Equitable Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of EQH opened at $53.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.79 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Equitable has a 12 month low of $37.99 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.13.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 724,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,521,837.06. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 94,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,940,960. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 592.6% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.