Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.2727.

A number of research firms have recently commented on EQH. Zacks Research downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,742,389.46. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 157,280 shares of company stock worth $7,455,677. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,861 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at $703,060,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Equitable by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $41.90 on Friday. Equitable has a 1 year low of $39.53 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of -8.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.