Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Makes New $379,000 Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 8,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after buying an additional 153,457 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $89,001,000 after buying an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,476,000 after buying an additional 78,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $50.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 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. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.38 and a 12-month high of $56.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.26.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares in the company, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.