Eagle Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 221,465 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,322 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $9,308,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. &PARTNERS raised its holdings in Equitable by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 34,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 2.6% in the second quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 17,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EQH. Truist Financial raised their target price on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.70.

Equitable Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $47.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.72 and a 200 day moving average of $42.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.86 and a 52-week high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a PE ratio of -43.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The company’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total value of $1,266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 130,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,709,605. 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.