Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,931 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after buying an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Equitable by 902.4% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 78,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 70,629 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE EQH opened at $54.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.92. 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 company has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.78 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $54.82.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.