Pzena Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Pzena Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,191,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,240,811 shares during the period. Equitable accounts for about 1.3% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 2.61% of Equitable worth $386,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew 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 valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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 $30,275,514.09. The trade was a 4.48 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.17.

Equitable Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:EQH opened at $49.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.38 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.31.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released 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 return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

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.