CI Investments Inc. Sells 24,196 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

CI Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 970,137 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,196 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Equitable worth $36,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 311,976 shares of the company's stock worth $14,965,000 after buying an additional 36,135 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at about $550,995,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,209,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Equitable by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 336,272 shares of the company's stock worth $12,473,000 after acquiring an additional 66,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company's stock worth $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $48.45 on Wednesday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50-day moving average is $44.13 and its 200 day moving average is $42.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The business 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%. Equitable's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total value of $647,689.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. This trade represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 88,803 shares of company stock worth $3,913,078 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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