Pzena Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Pzena Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,432,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,210,545 shares during the period. Equitable comprises about 2.2% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 5.18% of Equitable worth $690,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.4% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Equitable by 84.6% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth $7,602,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EQH. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

EQH traded up $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.76. The company had a trading volume of 181,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,488,494. The company has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a PE ratio of -42.76 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $28.18 and a one year high of $50.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.99.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -88.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at $819,596.82. This represents a 15.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,709,605 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable 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.