Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 11,661 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,661 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Equitable by 7,955.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,721 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $52.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.22. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $55.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.93, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $386,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. This represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,570,181.62. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,541 shares of company stock worth $5,357,784. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.