Vest Financial LLC Purchases 113,856 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 20.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 673,366 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,856 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $28,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth $45,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,596.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,263,672.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,596.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,969,870. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,213,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,834. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.50. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $46.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQH. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

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.