Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,841 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,240 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Equitable were worth $1,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,003,705,000 after acquiring an additional 535,671 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Equitable by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company's stock worth $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,089,046 shares of the company's stock worth $381,560,000 after buying an additional 355,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. The trade was a 16.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 117,332 shares of company stock worth $5,993,760 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.64.

Equitable Trading Down 0.3%

EQH traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $55.67. 1,391,150 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,550,667. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.85 and a 200 day moving average of $51.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Equitable's payout ratio is 29.35%.

Equitable 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.