JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $58.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price cut by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.25% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.23.

Equitable Trading Up 5.0%

NYSE:EQH opened at $45.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.17. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.46, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 140.87% and a negative net margin of 11.83%.The business’s revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Groupe la Francaise grew its position in shares of Equitable by 8.2% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. NFC Investments LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.