Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Purchased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,539 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Equitable were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 154.3% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.67.

Equitable Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $53.56 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.72. The company has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,835,300.22. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.