Smith Group Asset Management LLC Makes New $305,000 Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Equitable by 86.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.08 on Thursday, reaching $54.23. 356,187 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,632,923. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.76 and a 52 week high of $54.77. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.75 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equitable's quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

About Equitable

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.