Ellsworth Advisors LLC Invests $894,000 in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 26,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 194,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 38,233 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $1,573,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 384,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,814,000 after purchasing an additional 68,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 21,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.01. 1,636,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,986,701. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.33 and its 200-day moving average is $31.31. The stock has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.41. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.89 and a 52 week high of $38.32.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.50 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 26.04%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $247,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,902 shares in the company, valued at $737,631.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $247,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,902 shares in the company, valued at $737,631.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.07, for a total value of $1,984,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,152,398.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 241,938 shares of company stock worth $8,067,472 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.89.

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.