Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 49,886 Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 49,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,599,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,109,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071,691 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,799 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,927,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of EQH traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.58. 1,794,274 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,680. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $264,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,358,352.43. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,666 shares of company stock worth $7,145,208. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Company 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.