Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys 95,885 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Sound Income Strategies initiated a position in Equitable Holdings by purchasing 95,885 shares worth approximately $5.13 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.7% of EQH.
• Analysts remain generally bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.09, above the stock’s reported $52.88 price.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, beating estimates by $0.05, and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, or $1.20 annually, yielding about 2.3%.

Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 95,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,128,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 28.7% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 142.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares during the last quarter. Eleva Capital SAS acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth $825,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.3% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,661 shares of the company's stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho cut their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $63.09.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.88. 2,203,719 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,538,300. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $55.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a PE ratio of -15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.77 and a 200 day moving average of $46.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.Equitable's revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable's payout ratio is -36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arlene Isaacs-Lowe sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total transaction of $52,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,044,079.29. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO William Eckert, IV sold 947 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total value of $50,077.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,419 shares in the company, valued at $445,196.72. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 72,516 shares of company stock valued at $3,658,629. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.

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