Bridgewater Associates LP Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 37.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 3,608 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 141.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 243.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 58,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 42.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $47.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.44. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.31 and a 52-week high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.25 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This represents a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This represents a 15.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,166 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,605 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

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.