BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $11.46 Million Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its Equitable Holdings stake by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 240,549 shares valued at about $11.46 million.
• Wall Street remains constructive on EQH, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $58.18.
• Equitable recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share and has an active $1.0 billion share buyback program in place.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,549 shares of the company's stock after selling 197,363 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.08% of Equitable worth $11,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock worth $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company's stock worth $204,640,000 after buying an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 4,141.8% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company's stock worth $62,726,000 after buying an additional 1,206,122 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company's stock worth $76,290,000 after buying an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Equitable Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of EQH opened at $40.86 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $40.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.39, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is -42.25%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total value of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. This represents a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at $658,694.88. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 156,661 shares of company stock valued at $6,413,437 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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