Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $29.94 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 634,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,939,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its position in Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 101,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. This represents a 6.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.91.

Equitable Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $46.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.23. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.77 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.03.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

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.