Northern Trust Corp Buys 887,123 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,242,692 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 887,123 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.35% of Equitable worth $200,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,615,702.61. This trade represents 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 worth $4,141,315. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, reaching $51.17. The company had a trading volume of 294,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,609,787. The company's fifty day moving average is $49.99 and its 200 day moving average is $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.46 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equitable's revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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 $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised Equitable from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.33.

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.