Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 101,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,779,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 298.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $52.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.18 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.69.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock worth $6,589,966 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.