Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 87.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,148 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,354 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Equitable were worth $3,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th 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. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 608.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,236,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $53,927,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.44. 481,094 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,579,220. The company has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $50.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.28.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Equitable's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,702.61. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.67.

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.