Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,029,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 478,612 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Equitable were worth $142,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 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 value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.17.

Equitable Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of EQH opened at $55.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.69. The stock has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.96 and a 12 month 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Equitable Profile

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.