O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 5,063 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,658 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,063 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Equitable worth $8,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equitable by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 513,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,217,000 after purchasing an additional 60,643 shares during the period. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $431,000. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Equitable by 537.7% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 370,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,489,000 after buying an additional 312,635 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Equitable by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 245,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,560,000 after buying an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Equitable by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 175,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after acquiring an additional 33,957 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total transaction of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at $38,534,018.96. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. This trade represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $52.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.49 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.56. The company has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.