Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 4,019 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 348.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,172 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,019 shares during the quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EQH. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Equitable by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after buying an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Equitable by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after buying an additional 25,678 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Equitable by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. 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 the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,032 shares of company stock valued at $4,699,759 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $51.56 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.05. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.76 and a 1-year high of $52.04. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. 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 company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

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.