Investment Management Corp of Ontario Increases Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 138.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,730 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,690 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,725 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,939,000. APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,512,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $305,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.08.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,346,877.36. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $51.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.46 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.73.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 paid 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 1.87%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

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.