Wealthfront Advisers LLC Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 11,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,032 shares of company stock valued at $4,799,566 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of EQH opened at $51.28 on Monday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.42 and its 200-day moving average is $47.62.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

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.