Graham Capital Management L.P. Sells 5,259 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Graham Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 163,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,259 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $7,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Equitable by 298.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $51.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $49.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.67. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.00.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 26.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares in the company, valued at $35,346,877.36. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,411.76. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,332 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,315 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Equitable from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.08.

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.