Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stake Boosted by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,312 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,310 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,565,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,066,490,000 after purchasing an additional 402,720 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 10.0% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 26,902,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,764,000 after buying an additional 2,450,484 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Equitable by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,176,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,195,000 after buying an additional 45,999 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,073,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,874,000 after acquiring an additional 13,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 1,488,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,261,000 after acquiring an additional 190,501 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $38.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.48. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.89 and a 52-week high of $38.44.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 26.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $1,942,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 619,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,063,457.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $361,276.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,112,086.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $1,942,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 619,625 shares in the company, valued at $20,063,457.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 241,907 shares of company stock worth $8,338,649 over the last 90 days. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.