Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Position Cut by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 35,637,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 606,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Equitable worth $1,681,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Equitable by 298.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 82.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Down 0.4 %

EQH stock opened at $54.09 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.49 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.23.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

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.