Ethic Inc. Acquires 5,951 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,020 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,951 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its stake in Equitable by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised 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 worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

EQH opened at $51.36 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $49.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.70. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 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. 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 (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equitable's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Equitable's payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.08.

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.

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