Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 738,437 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,526 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Equitable worth $32,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 892.9% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Equitable by 86.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Equitable by 623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on EQH shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.10.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded up $0.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.98. 2,871,841 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,494,115. The firm has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a PE ratio of -41.27 and a beta of 1.38. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $50.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.01.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable's payout ratio is -88.07%.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $1,332,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 658,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,239,842. The trade was a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. The trade was a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,332 shares of company stock worth $4,806,403 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.