Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 4,164 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 6.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,028 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,164 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQH. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Equitable by 1,161.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,692,000 after purchasing an additional 7,227,568 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24,432.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,444,000 after buying an additional 3,155,487 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after buying an additional 781,426 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,470,000 after buying an additional 721,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter valued at $27,237,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,263,672.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,263,672.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,469 shares of company stock valued at $3,067,434. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Equitable in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.64.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $42.11 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.52. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

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.