DNB Asset Management AS Sells 135,421 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 135,421 shares and leaving it with 443,926 shares worth about $21.2 million.
• Equitable’s latest earnings topped expectations, reporting $1.62 EPS and $4.23 billion in revenue versus analyst estimates of $1.60 EPS and $3.95 billion in revenue.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18, while the company also has a $1 billion stock repurchase program in place.

DNB Asset Management AS lowered its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 443,926 shares of the company's stock after selling 135,421 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS owned 0.15% of Equitable worth $21,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st 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 period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $81,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore set a $63.00 price target on Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $574,894.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares in the company, valued at $3,579,696.12. The trade was a 13.84% 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 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Up 0.1%

EQH stock opened at $42.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.13. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.77. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Equitable

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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