Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys New Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 29,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 128.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter valued at $67,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 23.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,129,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 695,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,174,641.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $247,030.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,631.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,129,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 695,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,174,641.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 211,938 shares of company stock valued at $7,213,072. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,969,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,348,209. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $38.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.01.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

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.