MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 10,344 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 190,606 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,344 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Equitable worth $8,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis acquired a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,800,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $521,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,840,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $369,832,000 after purchasing an additional 375,232 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,601,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,720,000 after acquiring an additional 508,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,411.76. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.91.

Equitable Stock Down 0.8 %

EQH traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $49.67. 1,553,511 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,627,671. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $50.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.36. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.46 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.13%.

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.