Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 69.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,489 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQH. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $51.44 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.25. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.96 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share 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%. 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.