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

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.6364.

Several analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Equitable Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $38.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. Equitable has a 12-month low of $36.58 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.88 and its 200-day moving average is $46.59.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 71.5% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486,286 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 13.3% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 5,348 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Equitable by 5.1% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 928,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,106,000 after purchasing an additional 45,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Equitable by 64.0% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.