Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys Shares of 10,909 Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 24,432.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after buying an additional 781,426 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 57.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,470,000 after buying an additional 721,028 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,237,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Equitable by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,766,000 after acquiring an additional 637,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,469 shares of company stock worth $3,067,434. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.64.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $42.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The firm has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.68. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

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.