Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Position Increased by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 265,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,100 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Equitable were worth $12,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Equitable by 49.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,301 shares during the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 0.3% during the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,867,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,179,000 after acquiring an additional 12,370 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,812,000 after acquiring an additional 193,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,325,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,103,000 after acquiring an additional 28,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $40.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of -14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. Equitable’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18.

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.