Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Purchased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 29.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,844 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,858 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.06% of Equitable worth $9,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Equitable by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Equitable by 267.2% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.64.

Equitable Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:EQH opened at $55.67 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.51.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 79.05%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s payout ratio is 29.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total value of $1,595,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 724,367 shares in the company, valued at $38,521,837.06. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 94,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 117,332 shares of company stock worth $5,993,760. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.