Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Invests $2.10 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 40,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,099,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company's stock worth $69,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $53,927,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 upped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total value of $1,595,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 724,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,521,837.06. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 117,332 shares of company stock worth $5,993,760 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,196,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,567,343. The business's fifty day moving average is $52.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.14. The stock has a market cap of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $56.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 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 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 business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's payout ratio 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.