Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Makes New Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital initiated a new position in Equitable Holdings during the first quarter, purchasing 79,166 shares valued at approximately $2.94 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.7% of EQH.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.08. Recent targets range from $50 to $63, although Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to “peer perform.”
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, exceeding estimates of $1.65, while revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing a 2.5% yield.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 79,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,938,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company's stock worth $822,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,861 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company's stock worth $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,996,000 after acquiring an additional 22,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Equitable by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,812,000 after acquiring an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,694.88. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,503 shares of company stock worth $5,840,116. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.08.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $48.26 on Wednesday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 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 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EQH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source