Foster & Motley Inc. Takes $5.85 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 133,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,850,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Equitable in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the business’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 value of $386,550.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.17.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $50.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.34. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. Equitable’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.15 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

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.