Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 7,227,568 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 1,161.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,227,568 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $262,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 143.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 261.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.10.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,738,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,718,332. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.40. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.23 and a fifty-two week high of $41.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.46.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Equitable’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $2,026,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 703,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,748,887.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 309,380 shares of company stock worth $11,348,471. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.