Bank of America Corp DE Purchases 260,826 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 69.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634,049 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 260,826 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.20% of Equitable worth $29,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 501,498 shares of the company's stock worth $21,076,000 after acquiring an additional 59,844 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 28,853 shares of the company's stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 20,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total value of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,346,877.36. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EQH traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 263,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,927. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.83.

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.