Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 625,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112,714 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $29,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in Equitable by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 710,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,881,000 after acquiring an additional 152,847 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 21.2% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 20,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 15.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 279,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,739,000 after purchasing an additional 37,819 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 17.4% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 25,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 3,815 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Equitable by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. The trade was a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.75.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $45.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.78. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.23.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

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.