Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $1.36 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,853 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,843 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Equitable by 623.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $51.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.86 and a 200 day moving average of $44.19. 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 fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $52.04.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on EQH shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.18.

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.