Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 21,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,023,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 5.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,733 shares of the company's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 648,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Equitable Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EQH traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $51.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,567,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,002. 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 cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $52.04. The business's 50-day moving average price is $47.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.22.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

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.