Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 39,354 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQH. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Equitable by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company's stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Equitable by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.67.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 743,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,346,877.36. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. This represents a 6.15% 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 worth $5,976,400 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.99. 1,712,438 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,567,296. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.47. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.46 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equitable's revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

About Equitable

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.