Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 79,999 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,999 shares during the quarter. Equitable makes up 0.9% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.06% of Equitable worth $897,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. grew its stake in Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.91.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $46.44 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.00. The stock has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.23. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.51 and a one year high of $56.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.