Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 634,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,939,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of Equitable as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $46.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.03. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.77 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. This trade represents a 6.15 % 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, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares in the company, valued at $35,346,877.36. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.