Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 11,540 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 86.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,954 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,540 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Equitable were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company's stock worth $74,126,000 after buying an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 608.1% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company's stock worth $69,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company's stock worth $130,351,000 after acquiring an additional 957,828 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQH. Truist Financial upped their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $1.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.10. The stock had a trading volume of 525,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,626,152. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Equitable's payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,702.61. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $317,101.62. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,835,300.22. This trade represents a 6.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.