Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. State Street Corp raised its position in Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,735,000 after acquiring an additional 161,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Equitable by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,083,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,855,000 after purchasing an additional 539,904 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $110,176,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after purchasing an additional 54,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $51.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.19. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.76 and a 1-year high of $52.04.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is -88.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.18.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 in the last ninety days. 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.