Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $41.30 Million Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 1,092.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 875,589 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.28% of Equitable worth $41,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $1,023,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Equitable by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 28,853 shares of the company's stock worth $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Equitable by 348.6% during the fourth quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,172 shares of the company's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 4,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its position in Equitable by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 323,797 shares of the company's stock worth $15,273,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. The trade was a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $51.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,567,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,002. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $47.86 and its 200-day moving average is $44.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $52.04. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.18.

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.