Highland Capital Management LLC Invests $1.24 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,236,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Equitable by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 138,500 shares of the company's stock worth $6,533,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth about $4,779,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,301 shares of the company's stock worth $4,165,000 after purchasing an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Equitable by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,595 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 724,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,521,837.06. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 117,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,993,760 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Trading Down 0.1%

Equitable stock opened at $55.97 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $56.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 79.05%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 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.

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