Forum Financial Management LP Invests $208,000 in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Equitable by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,089,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,560,000 after acquiring an additional 355,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,659,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,351,000 after purchasing an additional 957,828 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 83,332 shares of company stock worth $4,141,315. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $48.90 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.23. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.91.

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.