Wedmont Private Capital Invests $201,000 in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 6,336 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Equitable by 700.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after buying an additional 1,367,837 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $458,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Equitable by 195.6% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $51.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.86 and its 200 day moving average is $44.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.76 and a 12-month high of $52.04.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares in the company, valued at $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.