Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 8,786.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,723 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 273,609 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $13,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. grew its holdings in Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Equitable by 298.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $54.39 on Wednesday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.00. The company has a market cap of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.83.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 26.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.