Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 43,837 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 94.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,485 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 43,837 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 236,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,106,000 after buying an additional 23,250 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Equitable by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Aspiriant LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,002,342.38. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $54.26 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.76 and a 12-month high of $54.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.78 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

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.