Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $55.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.75.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $54.97 on Wednesday. Equitable has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,411.76. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Equitable by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,705,000 after buying an additional 535,671 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Equitable by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after acquiring an additional 79,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $668,250,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Equitable by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently 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.