M.D. Sass LLC Purchases New Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

M.D. Sass LLC acquired a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 543,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,654,000. Equitable comprises approximately 1.9% of M.D. Sass LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQH. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 76.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 33,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 14,434 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000,000 after buying an additional 68,900 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $281,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 22,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 7,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in Equitable by 41.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,864 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.75.

Equitable Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of EQH opened at $53.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.49 and a 1-year high of $56.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.84 and a 200 day moving average of $48.08.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable 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.