Tredje AP fonden Grows Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Tredje AP fonden lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 77.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,888 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,477 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. NFC Investments LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 0.4% during the second quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in Equitable by 64.0% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 938 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 157,280 shares of company stock valued at $7,455,677 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH stock opened at $44.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of -9.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Company 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.