Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given “Hold (C)” Rating at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their hold (c) rating on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

EQH has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.45.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $49.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 40.00 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.97.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.86, for a total transaction of $134,836.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,348,411.86. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.69, for a total value of $364,555.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 81,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,396,566.72. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,468 shares of company stock valued at $7,117,270 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $703,060,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $108,264,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,109,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,286,000 after buying an additional 2,071,691 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,662,000 after buying an additional 2,061,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,319,000. 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.