Federated Hermes Inc. Has $96.97 Million Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. by 66.8%, owning approximately 1.86 million shares valued at $96.97 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Equitable Holdings reported a 105.2% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $1.35, missing estimates but exceeding revenue expectations at $4.58 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.09%, with a payout ratio of 29.35%.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 66.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,861,576 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 745,477 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.61% of Equitable worth $96,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,953 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 1st quarter worth approximately $104,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Equitable by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 39,478 shares of the company's stock worth $2,056,000 after buying an additional 6,237 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 104.9% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 301,131 shares of the company's stock worth $15,686,000 after buying an additional 154,191 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 71,414 shares of the company's stock worth $3,720,000 after buying an additional 10,089 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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 shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $66.00 target price (up from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total transaction of $1,566,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 714,367 shares in the company, valued at $37,304,244.74. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,666 shares of company stock valued at $7,145,208 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of EQH traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,434,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,149,513. The firm has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.14. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.17.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.