Quest Partners LLC Sells 9,936 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,936 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,265,815,000 after buying an additional 446,752 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,766,000 after purchasing an additional 637,916 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,161.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,692,000 after buying an additional 7,227,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,232,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,553,000 after buying an additional 18,475 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group cut shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $39.31 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.17. 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 has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The business’s 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. Analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.72%.

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.