Comerica Bank Increases Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,481 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,314 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned 0.05% of Equitable worth $8,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 64.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,029,638 shares of the company's stock worth $48,568,000 after acquiring an additional 405,316 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Equitable by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,242,692 shares of the company's stock worth $200,128,000 after purchasing an additional 887,123 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 673,077 shares of the company's stock worth $31,749,000 after purchasing an additional 18,136 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 125,000 shares of the company's stock worth $5,896,000 after buying an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on EQH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.08.

Equitable Stock Up 1.5 %

EQH stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.90. 1,866,518 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,615,869. 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's fifty day moving average price is $49.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.59. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company's revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued 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 1.89%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

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.