Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.6364.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,351,000 after buying an additional 1,132,861 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $703,060,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,996,000 after acquiring an additional 22,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Equitable by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after acquiring an additional 193,640 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $38.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.59. Equitable has a one year low of $36.58 and a one year high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Equitable

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.