Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 125,842 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 2,090.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,861 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,842 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $6,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Equitable by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,168,000 after buying an additional 615,314 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 53.9% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 17,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 6,065 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at about $817,000. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $434,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 3,555.3% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 21,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.88, for a total value of $1,900,836.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 665,445 shares in the company, valued at $31,861,506.60. The trade was a 5.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 166,980 shares of company stock worth $7,787,372. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $46.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.39 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.96 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.62.

Equitable Company Profile

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.