Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $2.39 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 45,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,388,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.3% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,561 shares of the company's stock worth $4,613,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,278 shares of the company's stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 6.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,145 shares of the company's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,052,615.43. This represents a 16.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 117,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,993,760. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.80. 1,572,508 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,545,906. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.78. The company has a market cap of $16.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $56.61.

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). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company's revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

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.