Vest Financial LLC Acquires 38,104 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 559,510 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,104 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.17% of Equitable worth $22,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Equitable during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 1,421.4% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 26.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 261.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at $28,635,021. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,938 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,536. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of EQH opened at $39.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The stock has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $44.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.17.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.64.

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.