Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,450 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Equitable by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,735,000 after buying an additional 161,376 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Equitable by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after buying an additional 957,828 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,554,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,529,000 after buying an additional 437,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after buying an additional 54,380 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,032 shares of company stock worth $5,443,966 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Up 2.4 %

EQH stock opened at $52.84 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.49 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.79. 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 capitalization of $16.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.75.

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.