Blue Trust Inc. Buys 5,358 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 206.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,948 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,358 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.9% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 35,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.8% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 73,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.8% in the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 212,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,952,000 after acquiring an additional 42,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 6.7% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 9,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $45.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 1.41. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $46.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.06 and a 200-day moving average of $40.67.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Equitable’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,635,021. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,969,870. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

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.