Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 267.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,206 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $151,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Equitable by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 6,164 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Equitable by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,269 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,032 shares of company stock valued at $4,799,566 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $51.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.62. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

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.