Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $61.00 Price Target at Barclays

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $60.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.05% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.20.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $49.98. 753,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,853,502. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.59. Equitable has a twelve month low of $31.76 and a twelve month high of $50.51. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.85 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,760,963.65. The trade was a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $587,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 230.0% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,678 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 55.3% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 52.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,742,000 after purchasing an additional 249,639 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equitable

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.