MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Raises Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 298.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,689 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Equitable were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after acquiring an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,735,000 after purchasing an additional 161,376 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 2.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,322,000 after buying an additional 54,380 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after buying an additional 68,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. This trade represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $53.04 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.50. The stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.66 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $53.99.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

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.