Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 500,976 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 17.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,442,698 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500,976 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Equitable were worth $90,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7,955.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,721 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 337.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,890 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total value of $1,797,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 765,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,680,087.84. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,779.78. This trade represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 88,803 shares of company stock worth $3,913,078. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.08.

Equitable Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:EQH opened at $48.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.13 and a 200 day moving average of $42.92. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of -17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.25%.

Equitable Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.