Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $4.10 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 87,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Equitable were worth $4,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Equitable by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,735,000 after buying an additional 161,376 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 2.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,322,000 after acquiring an additional 54,380 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Equitable by 3.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000,000 after acquiring an additional 68,900 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $53.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.64. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.72 and a twelve month high of $54.82.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,032 shares of company stock valued at $7,587,971. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

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.