Vest Financial LLC Has $22.86 Million Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 559,510 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,104 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $22,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,096,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,821,000 after acquiring an additional 22,976 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,105.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,242,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,814 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 168,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,466,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 261.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.64.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $39.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $44.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,814,662.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 678,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares in the company, valued at $4,814,662.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,938 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,536. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.