Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stake Reduced by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 950,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,476 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Equitable were worth $49,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.67.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:EQH opened at $53.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $50.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

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.