Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 253,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,696 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $11,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $49.55 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.46. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.95 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.