Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Purchased by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 82.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,805 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Equitable by 700.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Equitable by 1,092.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 875,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,302,000 after acquiring an additional 802,160 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,144,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Equitable by 23,851.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 396,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,661,000 after acquiring an additional 394,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Equitable by 1,133.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 388,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,328,000 after acquiring an additional 357,417 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $54.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.96 and a twelve month high of $56.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.64. The firm has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.83.

Equitable Company 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.