Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 4,133 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,133 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 298.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $52.29 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.49 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.66 and its 200 day moving average is $47.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,776,023.24. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 105,032 shares of company stock worth $5,443,966 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.75.

Equitable Company 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.