New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 302,693 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,619 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equitable were worth $10,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 73,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 5,310 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 158,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 34,745 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 143.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in Equitable by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 122,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,096,000 after purchasing an additional 61,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 74,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,000 after purchasing an additional 22,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $361,276.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,112,086.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $361,276.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,112,086.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $1,087,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 685,025 shares in the company, valued at $24,825,306. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 181,907 shares of company stock worth $6,395,849 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.67.

Equitable Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $38.63 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.89 and a twelve month high of $39.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.02 and a 200 day moving average of $32.82. The stock has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 26.04%.

Equitable 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.