VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $4.49 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 80,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,488,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth $33,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in 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. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth $75,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth $80,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $1,991,952.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 140,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,573,932. This represents a 20.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.22, for a total transaction of $2,144,455.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 690,678 shares in the company, valued at $37,448,561.16. This represents a 5.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,258 shares of company stock valued at $7,449,913 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.45.

Equitable Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:EQH opened at $48.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.90. The company has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.39 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.10%.

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.