Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 101,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,856,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Equitable by 1,126.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 291,126 shares of the company's stock worth $16,332,000 after purchasing an additional 267,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 196,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Equitable
In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 156,661 shares of company stock worth $6,413,437. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.
Equitable Price Performance
Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.33 on Tuesday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.71 and a 200-day moving average of $43.22.
Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.
Equitable declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Equitable Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.25%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
EQH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.18.
Check Out Our Latest Report on EQH
About Equitable
(
Free Report)
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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