B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Raises Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,725 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,126,000 after buying an additional 1,367,837 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after buying an additional 1,261,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Equitable by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after acquiring an additional 957,828 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $54.97 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.69. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.49 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total transaction of $369,163.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EQH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

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.