Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Bought by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank boosted its stake in Equitable by 4.2% in Q4 to 615,489 shares (about $29.33M), and institutional investors now own roughly 92.70% of the company.
• Equitable's Board approved a $1.0 billion share buyback (up to 7.7% of shares) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized $1.08, ~2.6% yield).
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $56.91, though several firms have recently cut targets and issued mixed ratings.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 615,489 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,848 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.21% of Equitable worth $29,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,621 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 52,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,686,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.91.

Equitable Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $40.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% 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 sold a total of 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 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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