Artemis Investment Management LLP Raises Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 975,926 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,197 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Equitable were worth $46,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 338,205 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Equitable by 3.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Equitable by 15.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,083,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,855,000 after buying an additional 539,904 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $110,176,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after buying an additional 54,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 raised 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. Finally, 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.18.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $51.70 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.76 and a 12 month high of $52.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

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

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.