Wells Fargo & Company MN Purchases 968 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 565,814 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.18% of Equitable worth $26,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Equitable by 700.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 608.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Equitable by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after buying an additional 957,828 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable 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 $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $46.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.94. The company has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.23.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.91.

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.