Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 437,322 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,554,890 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 437,322 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.82% of Equitable worth $120,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 82.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 126.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 378,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,875,000 after buying an additional 211,332 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 144,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,839,000 after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $499,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 446.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 37,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 30,570 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $55.50 on Wednesday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.96 and a 52-week high of $55.79. 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 company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.03.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (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, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 125,032 shares of company stock worth $6,165,071 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.92.

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.