Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 213,891 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,291,332 shares of the company's stock after selling 213,891 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.37% of Equitable worth $202,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $668,250,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Equitable by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company's stock worth $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 957,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,554,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,529,000 after acquiring an additional 437,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.75.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH traded up $5.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.58. 5,801,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,615,316. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day moving average is $52.06 and its 200 day moving average is $48.88. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.13%.

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.