Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Bought by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 673,077 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,136 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.21% of Equitable worth $31,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its position in Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 0.2 %

EQH traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $50.34. 2,173,194 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,619,905. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.14 and a 200 day moving average of $49.56.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

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.