Eagle Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 25.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,465 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,322 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Equitable worth $9,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in 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. &PARTNERS raised its stake in Equitable by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 34,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 4.8% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 17,612 shares of the company's stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,263,672.90. This trade represents a 4.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 130,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,709,605. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,186,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,553,186. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.69 and a beta of 1.40. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.86 and a twelve month high of $50.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Equitable's payout ratio is -88.07%.

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.