Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $129.72 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,490,221 shares of the company's stock after selling 64,669 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.81% of Equitable worth $129,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Equitable by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 42,276 shares of the company's stock worth $2,202,000 after acquiring an additional 14,380 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 15.1% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 154,482 shares of the company's stock worth $8,047,000 after purchasing an additional 20,317 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,512,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total value of $212,360.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 117,332 shares of company stock worth $5,993,760 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on 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 upped their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.64.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,391,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,558,435. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $53.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.56. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.61. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 79.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.35%.

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.