Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $51.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $46.00 to $51.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.00.

Equitable Trading Down 0.1 %

EQH stock opened at $40.82 on Friday. Equitable has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $41.95. The company has a market capitalization of $13.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total value of $394,971.78. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,814,662.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,814,662.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $1,087,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 685,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,825,306. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 202,411 shares of company stock valued at $7,646,571. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after purchasing an additional 446,752 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $4,425,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $1,573,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $2,977,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1,739.8% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 153,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,105,000 after buying an additional 144,981 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.