Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Sells 10,496 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lowered its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,496 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Equitable were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its position in Equitable by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 6.6% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 4,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the second quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 9,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total value of $293,871.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 68,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,956,370.24. This trade represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,358 shares of company stock worth $8,760,599. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $45.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.61. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of -16.35 and a beta of 1.17.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

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.