QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 260 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,561 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $4,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,705,000 after acquiring an additional 535,671 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Equitable by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Equitable by 59.9% in 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Equitable by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,089,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,560,000 after purchasing an additional 355,078 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.18, for a total transaction of $1,595,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 724,367 shares in the company, valued at $38,521,837.06. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total value of $317,101.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 101,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,835,300.22. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,332 shares of company stock worth $5,781,400. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $52.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.86. The stock has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 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.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued 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 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company 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 company earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.67.

Equitable Company 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.