First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 7th, 2026

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH – Free Report) by 96.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,044,489 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $52.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.01.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 249.82% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on EQH

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,503 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,116. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Equitable

(Free Report)

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.