Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,691,386 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 85.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 278,002 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,691,386 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Equitable worth $11,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Equitable by 623.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This represents a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,166 shares of company stock valued at $4,286,705. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays increased their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.70.

Equitable Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,296,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,184. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.02 and a fifty-two week high of $50.51. The business's fifty day moving average is $43.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.12 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Equitable's quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -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.