Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,554,890 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 437,322 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.82% of Equitable worth $120,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,954 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of EQH stock traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,632,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,850,821. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $50.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.15. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.96 and a twelve month high of $56.00.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.58.

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.