Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 9,710 Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Equitable by 86.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Equitable by 623.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.10.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $48.55 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.76 and a 1 year high of $50.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of -44.54 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.07%.

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.