Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target to $62.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $61.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.81% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.67.

Equitable Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Equitable stock traded down $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $53.08. 352,225 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,803,208. The company has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable has a one year low of $32.96 and a one year high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.48.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQH. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 7.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.