MV Capital Management Inc. Makes New $26,000 Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Down 2.1%

EQH stock opened at $53.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.72. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EQH shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83% 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 worth $5,976,400. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.