Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. by 16.5%, owning 71,414 shares valued at $3.72 million after additional purchases in the first quarter.
• Equitable's shares are currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with an average target price of $65.00.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.0%.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,414 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,089 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Equitable were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 552,873 shares of the company's stock worth $28,799,000 after purchasing an additional 121,813 shares during the last quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,845 shares of the company's stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Equitable by 12.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 36,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in Equitable by 379.5% during the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 127,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,579,000 after buying an additional 100,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 73.0% in the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 144,668 shares of the company's stock worth $7,536,000 after buying an additional 61,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.00.

Equitable Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $53.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.99 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.14.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 87.10%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,615.43. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $1,566,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 714,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,304,244.74. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 94,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,940,960. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable 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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