Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,032,270 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares during the period. Equitable accounts for about 0.9% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 6.07% of Equitable worth $897,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,126,000 after buying an additional 1,367,837 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 608.1% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,466 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Equitable by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company's stock worth $130,351,000 after purchasing an additional 957,828 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.91.

Equitable Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $2.04 on Tuesday, hitting $47.65. 385,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,096,858. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $50.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.19. The company has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.23. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable 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.