Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 1,230,519 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 17.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,675,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,230,519 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $238,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 24,432.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155,487 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth $110,176,000. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $63,334,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Equitable by 57.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,470,000 after buying an additional 721,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 1,095.9% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 600,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,543,000 after buying an additional 550,436 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. The trade was a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This represents a 15.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 100,166 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,605. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $47.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.42 and its 200-day moving average is $42.89. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.76 and a 1-year high of $50.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.55 and a beta of 1.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.10.

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.