Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 283,910 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 38.0% 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 1,031,229 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 283,910 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.33% of Equitable worth $48,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 27.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 710,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,881,000 after acquiring an additional 152,847 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 279,310 shares of the company's stock worth $11,739,000 after purchasing an additional 37,819 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 25,722 shares of the company's stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 3,815 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Equitable by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Equitable by 3.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company's stock worth $231,735,000 after acquiring an additional 161,376 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $46.44. 4,802,470 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,623,830. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.49 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $51.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.94.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. This trade represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.