Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Upgraded at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $58.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $47.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.64.

Equitable Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $48.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.16 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.87. 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 has a 52-week low of $31.76 and a 52-week high of $50.51.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 658,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,239,842. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth about $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Equitable by 20.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after buying an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in Equitable by 230.0% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after buying an additional 25,678 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 7.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 22,346 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.