Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 51.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,712 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EQH. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 700.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after purchasing an additional 957,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares in the company, valued at $6,282,137.85. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 10.4 %

Equitable stock opened at $45.00 on Monday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.49 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.84. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQH. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.