Smith Group Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased 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 SEC. The firm purchased 6,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Equitable by 1,092.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 875,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,302,000 after purchasing an additional 802,160 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Equitable by 23,851.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 396,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,661,000 after purchasing an additional 394,744 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 63.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 954,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,010,000 after purchasing an additional 369,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 1,133.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 388,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,328,000 after buying an additional 357,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

Equitable Trading Up 1.0 %

Equitable stock opened at $54.21 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $54.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.73 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.