Ascent Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ascent Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,382 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 24,432.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155,487 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Equitable in the second quarter worth $110,176,000. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the second quarter worth $63,334,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Equitable by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after purchasing an additional 781,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 57.8% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,470,000 after purchasing an additional 721,028 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.64.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $819,596.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,469 shares of company stock worth $3,067,434. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $41.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.42. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.89. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. 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.