South Dakota Investment Council Makes New Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 162,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,459,000. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.05% of Equitable at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 111.2% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its stake in Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 154.3% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 price target (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.18.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.49. The company had a trading volume of 664,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,540,336. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $53.62 and its 200 day moving average is $52.02.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 79.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $1,566,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 714,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,304,244.74. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,666 shares of company stock valued at $7,145,208. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.