ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 733 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,672 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 733 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Equitable by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,705,000 after purchasing an additional 535,671 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Equitable by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth about $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Equitable by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,089,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,560,000 after purchasing an additional 355,078 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $51.85 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.21. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $56.00. 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 has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 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. Insiders sold a total of 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.