PGGM Investments Acquires 97,983 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 234.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 139,713 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,983 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Equitable were worth $5,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after purchasing an additional 446,752 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Equitable by 3.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,766,000 after acquiring an additional 637,916 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 1,161.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,692,000 after acquiring an additional 7,227,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Equitable by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,232,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,553,000 after acquiring an additional 18,475 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.09.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH traded up $0.86 on Thursday, hitting $40.10. The stock had a trading volume of 335,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,074. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $44.50. The company has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.82 and a 200-day moving average of $38.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

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.