Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS Lowers Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS reduced its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,605 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $458,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Equitable by 195.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.01. 242,029 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,656,238. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.59. The firm has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.76 and a 1-year high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -88.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock worth $6,031,759. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company 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.