Amundi Decreases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its Equitable Holdings position by 19.1% in the first quarter, selling 188,161 shares and retaining 798,857 shares valued at approximately $29.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.7% of EQH.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Equitable receiving a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $60.08, above its reported share price of $48.11.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, slightly exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing a 2.5% annualized yield.

Amundi cut its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 798,857 shares of the company's stock after selling 188,161 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.28% of Equitable worth $29,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,133,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Equitable by 1,126.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 291,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,332,000 after buying an additional 267,389 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Equitable by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 626,017 shares of the company's stock worth $35,120,000 after acquiring an additional 196,729 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 128,503 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,116 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.08.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $48.11 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $45.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.94, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business's revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is presently -42.25%.

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.

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