Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Barclays from $57.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 25.00% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.82.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,052,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,517,447. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.14, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.11. Equitable has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.34.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 250.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 82,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,615,000 after purchasing an additional 58,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.