634,701 Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 634,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,939,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Equitable as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Equitable by 298.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $51.28 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.00 and a twelve month high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.48. 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 announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

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.