Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 67,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,195,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company's stock worth $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $7,512,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $305,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 513,391 shares of the company's stock worth $24,217,000 after acquiring an additional 60,643 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $352,698.06. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 94,980 shares in the company, 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 a total of 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Equitable stock traded down $0.53 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 780,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,871,059. The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.67.

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.