OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Cuts Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 78.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,052 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,536 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Equitable were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $7,512,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $305,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equitable by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 513,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,217,000 after acquiring an additional 60,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $264,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,358,352.43. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Equitable Trading Down 3.5%

EQH stock traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,775,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,600,781. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.30 and a 200 day moving average of $50.10. The company has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm 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%. Equitable's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. 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.