Swedbank AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Swedbank AB reduced its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 704,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,622 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Equitable were worth $33,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2 %

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 fifty day simple moving average of $48.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.92. 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 firm has a market cap 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 data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

About Equitable

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.