Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,177 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,687 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,177 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 20.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth approximately $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,476,000 after acquiring an additional 78,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Equitable by 902.4% in the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 78,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 70,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,776,023.24. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,698 shares of company stock valued at $6,534,234 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $51.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.36 and a 200 day moving average of $47.48. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.00 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The company has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

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.