M&T Bank Corp Increases Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,323 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,605 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Equitable by 3.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,554,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,529,000 after acquiring an additional 437,322 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.5% during 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 valued at $93,322,000 after acquiring an additional 54,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000,000 after purchasing an additional 68,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. The trade was a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.17.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $50.41 on Monday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.38 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.