Retirement Systems of Alabama Invests $13.27 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 398,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,270,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of Equitable as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,565,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,066,490,000 after buying an additional 402,720 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 26,902,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,764,000 after buying an additional 2,450,484 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,176,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,195,000 after buying an additional 45,999 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,073,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,874,000 after buying an additional 13,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 1,488,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,261,000 after buying an additional 190,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $1,087,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 685,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,825,306. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $1,087,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 685,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,825,306. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $170,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,758 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,367.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 181,907 shares of company stock valued at $6,395,849. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.67.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $38.63 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $39.08.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.04%.

About Equitable

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.