JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $45.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $45.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $41.90.

Equitable Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of EQH opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.58. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $361,276.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,112,086.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Equitable news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $361,276.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,112,086.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 202,411 shares of company stock valued at $7,646,571 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,161.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,692,000 after acquiring an additional 7,227,568 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,105.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,242,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,814 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after acquiring an additional 781,426 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,237,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.