Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 135,065 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 15.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 740,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135,065 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.24% of Equitable worth $38,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 608.1% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,466 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $53,927,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $54.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.46 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total value of $352,698.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,980 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,391.80. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,332 shares of company stock worth $5,976,400 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.