Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 47,762 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 1.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,243,570 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,762 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Equitable were worth $221,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the first quarter valued at about $252,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Equitable by 51.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 42,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,202,000 after acquiring an additional 14,380 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Equitable by 15.1% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 154,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,047,000 after acquiring an additional 20,317 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,512,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the first quarter valued at about $338,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total transaction of $1,595,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 724,367 shares in the company, valued at $38,521,837.06. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $264,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,358,352.43. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,666 shares of company stock worth $4,012,008 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.18.

Equitable Trading Down 2.9%

EQH opened at $51.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.55 and a 200 day moving average of $51.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company’s revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

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.