First Trust Advisors LP Buys 375,232 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,840,415 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 375,232 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 2.50% of Equitable worth $369,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Equitable by 298.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.91.

Equitable Stock Up 2.5 %

EQH stock traded up $1.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.13. 680,265 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,068,853. The firm's 50 day moving average is $50.71 and its 200 day moving average is $49.17. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.46 and a twelve month high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $317,101.62. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 101,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,835,300.22. This trade represents a 6.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.