Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 64,669 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,490,221 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,669 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.81% of Equitable worth $129,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 154.3% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 841 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 EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.55.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $55.10. 2,067,277 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,556,281. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.17 and a 200 day moving average of $51.66.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released 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 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total value of $1,595,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 724,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,521,837.06. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 117,332 shares of company stock worth $5,993,760 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.