Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $52.78 and last traded at $52.47, with a volume of 217605 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $51.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.18.

Equitable Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.08 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Equitable’s payout ratio is -88.07%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Equitable by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,735,000 after buying an additional 161,376 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $110,176,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 2.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after acquiring an additional 54,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Equitable by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000,000 after acquiring an additional 68,900 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by 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.