Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,102 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Equitable were worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 15.5% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in Equitable by 84.1% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 28,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819 shares during the period. M.D. Sass LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 28.5% in the first quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 699,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,414,000 after purchasing an additional 155,196 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Equitable by 255.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 184,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,605,000 after purchasing an additional 132,453 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter valued at about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Equitable Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $54.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.99 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.23 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.14.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 87.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $1,566,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 714,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,304,244.74. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,025,391.80. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,666 shares of company stock valued at $7,145,208. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.