Vest Financial LLC Sells 524,356 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 69.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 524,356 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $11,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 154.3% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 31.5% in the 4th 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.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $54.87 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 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. The firm has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.57.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.67.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.90, for a total value of $1,587,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 733,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,786,597.40. The trade was a 3.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,835,300.22. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.