Foster & Motley Inc. Buys 3,594 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 174,143 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $8,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $305,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 90,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,268,000 after buying an additional 43,837 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 236,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,106,000 after acquiring an additional 23,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,760,963.65. The trade was a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $54.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.73 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.86. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $54.62.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -88.07%.

Equitable Company 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.