Bessemer Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 111.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 678 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 13.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 501,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,076,000 after buying an additional 59,844 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Equitable by 2.9% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 388,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,326,000 after buying an additional 11,085 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.91.

Equitable Trading Up 1.1 %

Equitable stock opened at $46.88 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.18 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.06.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,346,877.36. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315 over the last 90 days. 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.