Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $9 Million Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 91.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,053 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,023 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $8,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the second quarter worth $376,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Equitable in the second quarter valued at $2,606,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Equitable by 2,696.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,272,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,289,000 after buying an additional 13,762,414 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 4.8% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $52.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.03. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $55.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $386,550.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,759.78. This represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total value of $647,689.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 121,794 shares of company stock valued at $5,844,301. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho set a $68.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, life insurance and wealth management solutions. Its businesses serve individuals, families, employers and institutions through financial professionals and advisory channels.

The company’s principal operations include Equitable, which offers individual life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, and Equitable Advisors, which provides financial planning and investment advice. Equitable Holdings also owns a majority interest in AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm serving institutional and retail clients.

The company traces its history to 1859, when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was founded.