Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $54.82 Million Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,162,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,002 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Equitable were worth $54,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its stake in Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% in 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 boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.67. The firm has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.15. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 yield of 1.87%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 quarter, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315. 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.