Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys Shares of 200,000 Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 200,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,602,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.06% of Equitable at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after purchasing an additional 446,752 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $4,425,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $1,573,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 60.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after buying an additional 38,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $2,977,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,411 shares of company stock valued at $6,627,658. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 1.7 %

EQH stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $42.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,163,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,647,593. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.02 and a 200 day moving average of $37.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.43. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $43.53.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.45.

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.