Two Sigma Advisers LP Raises Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 241,200 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,200 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.08% of Equitable worth $11,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Equitable by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Equitable by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in Equitable by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 94,980 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 1.2%

Equitable stock traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.34. 586,863 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,579,956. The business's 50 day moving average is $50.32 and its 200 day moving average is $50.28. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.15. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is 29.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.67.

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.