Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 91,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,333,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Equitable by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings 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 during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,536,349.35. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $47.49. 453,017 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,618,275. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.49 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $51.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.99. 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 capitalization of $14.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.23.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

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.