Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Raised to Strong-Buy at Raymond James Financial

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was upgraded by investment analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $58.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 39.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on EQH. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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 research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.91.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $41.68 on Thursday. Equitable has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.72. 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 declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $400,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,973,688.72. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. The trade was a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,386,439. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $550,995,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Equitable by 49.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Equitable by 7,955.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,585,000 after buying an additional 2,394,721 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia boosted its holdings in Equitable by 4,141.8% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Equitable

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded EQH from “market perform” to “strong-buy” with a $58 price target (implying ~39% upside from current levels), which is a clear bullish catalyst for investors. Raymond James Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Management and counterpart Corebridge have discussed potential share buybacks ahead of the pending Corebridge–Equitable transaction; buyback talk typically supports the share price by reducing float and signaling confidence in valuation. Buybacks & Merger Discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed (all executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans): COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares (~$40.58 avg), Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares (~$40.44 avg), and CEO Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares (~$40.03 avg). Because these were planned 10b5‑1 trades the market impact is muted, but such filings can still raise short-term selling pressure. Filing links: Hurd SEC Filing Lane SEC Filing Pearson SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and fundamental headwinds: the 50‑day moving average (~$40.06) sits below the 200‑day (~$44.79) and key metrics show negative earnings (negative P/E) and high reported leverage; these factors can limit upside and contribute to continued selling pressure despite positive headlines.

Equitable Company Profile

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.