Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Overweight Rating

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $60.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $64.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 25.20% from the company’s previous close.

EQH has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.36.

Equitable Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE EQH opened at $47.92 on Monday. Equitable has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of -17.36 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.80 and its 200 day moving average is $50.43.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.17, for a total value of $1,912,349.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,191,056.80. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 173,770 shares of company stock valued at $8,120,014. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 329,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,162,000 after purchasing an additional 63,162 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,261,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Equitable in the first quarter worth approximately $456,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the first quarter worth $7,403,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.