Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 839,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,565 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $27,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,143,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,240,838,000 after purchasing an additional 854,689 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 33,444,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,193 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 26,902,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450,484 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $553,559,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,933,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,213,000 after purchasing an additional 336,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $36.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.89 and a 12 month high of $38.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.34.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.04%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $247,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,902 shares in the company, valued at $737,631.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $247,030.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $737,631.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $361,276.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 141,062 shares in the company, valued at $5,112,086.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,907 shares of company stock worth $8,338,649 over the last ninety days. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.67.

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.