Empowered Funds LLC Invests $874,000 in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 19,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 1,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total value of $74,985.90. Following the sale, the director owned 26,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,684.75. The trade was a 5.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arlene Isaacs-Lowe sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $52,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,763 shares in the company, valued at $1,044,079.29. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,071 shares of company stock worth $5,309,147. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $52.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.82. The company has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a PE ratio of -15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -36.25%.

About Equitable

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.