Aberdeen Group plc Buys 11,457 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. by 6.5%, acquiring an additional 11,457 shares, bringing its total ownership to 187,524 shares valued at approximately $10.5 million.
• Several institutional investors notably boosted their positions in Equitable Holdings, with Wellington Management Group expanding its holdings by 23.4% and Robeco Institutional Asset Management increasing its stake by an impressive 553%.
• Equitable's stock has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $64.45, following recent price target adjustments from firms like Evercore ISI and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,524 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,457 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.06% of Equitable worth $10,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equitable by 23.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,662,000 after buying an additional 2,061,496 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,789,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,536,000 after buying an additional 265,759 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 1.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,584,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,610,000 after buying an additional 25,951 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 553.0% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,166,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,553,000 after buying an additional 1,834,889 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,109,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,286,000 after buying an additional 2,071,691 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.45.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.86, for a total value of $134,836.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,348,411.86. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.69, for a total value of $364,555.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 81,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,396,566.72. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,468 shares of company stock worth $7,117,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of EQH opened at $48.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.39 and a 1 year high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 87.10%.

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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