Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stock position in Equitable Holdings by 23.7% in the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 329,454, valued at approximately $17.16 million.
• Equitable's CEO, Mark Pearson, sold 39,700 shares recently, reducing his ownership by 5.35%, while the overall insider ownership stands at only 1.10% following significant sales by other executives.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for Equitable, with JPMorgan raising its target from $55 to $65, and the stock now has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $64.90.

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329,454 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 63,162 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.11% of Equitable worth $17,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQH. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,264,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 5,536.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,071,691 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061,496 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,319,000. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 616.6% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,245,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EQH. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,615.43. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.05, for a total transaction of $2,106,085.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,029 shares in the company, valued at $37,295,688.45. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,090 shares of company stock valued at $5,953,752. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 1.4%

EQH stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.28. 1,933,347 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,609,003. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.38 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $52.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.03. The company has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.97 and a beta of 1.16.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 87.10%.

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.