Vest Financial LLC Sells 524,356 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vest Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,735 shares of the company's stock after selling 524,356 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Equitable worth $11,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth 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 holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company's stock worth $82,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $53,927,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.67.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $54.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.39 and a 200-day moving average of $50.57. 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 has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.90, for a total transaction of $1,587,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 733,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,786,597.40. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,615,702.61. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,976,400. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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