Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M.D. Sass LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,654,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 319.7% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 258,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,180,000 after purchasing an additional 196,689 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 5,724 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $5,094,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $361,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Trading Down 1.3 %

EQH stock opened at $53.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. 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 $53.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.26. The firm has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 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 analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQH. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,629 shares in the company, valued at $6,282,137.85. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.