Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 165,922 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 65.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 419,903 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 165,922 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Equitable worth $21,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQH. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 5.3% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the company's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Equitable by 8.4% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,539 shares of the company's stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equitable

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,025,391.80. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,666 shares of company stock worth $7,145,208. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $68.00 price target (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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 price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.18.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $52.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $53.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.02.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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