634,701 Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 634,701 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,939,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.20% of Equitable as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Equitable by 298.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQH. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH traded up $1.83 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 392,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,622,986. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.23. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.00.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Equitable

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.