Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $89,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQH. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 892.9% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 658,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,239,842. This trade represents a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,952,403. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.10.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $46.52 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $50.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.71 and its 200-day moving average is $43.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.68 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. Equitable’s revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

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.