UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 337,883 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,558,239 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 337,883 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.82% of Equitable worth $120,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th 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. Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 298.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,702.61. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Equitable Trading Down 1.8%

Equitable stock traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.98. 2,602,449 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,587,372. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $50.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

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.