Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Acquired by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Equitable Holdings by 41.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 265,000 shares valued at about $12.6 million.
• Equitable reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.62 topping estimates and revenue of $4.23 billion exceeding forecasts, though revenue still fell 7.6% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share and authorized a $1 billion stock buyback, signaling confidence in the stock’s value.

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,100 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt owned about 0.09% of Equitable worth $12,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $81,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Trading Up 1.1%

EQH opened at $40.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a PE ratio of -14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $40.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.25. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently -42.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,273,054.10. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer 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 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 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho boosted 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. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.18.

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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