Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Sold by Levin Capital Strategies L.P.

Key Points

• Levin Capital Strategies cut its stake in Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH) by 60.2% in Q4, selling 38,623 shares and retaining 25,518 shares valued at $1.216 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently—128,116 shares worth $5.205 million were sold in the past three months, including trades by Nick Lane and COO Jeffrey J. Hurd, leaving insiders with roughly 1.10% ownership.
• Equitable's board approved a $1.00 billion share repurchase program (up to 7.7% of shares) and the firm pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (≈2.6% yield); analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $56.82.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lessened its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 60.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,518 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,623 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.'s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 49.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at about $101,547,000. London Co. of Virginia lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 4,141.8% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,122 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 337.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 122.8% in the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,768,684 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,223,000 after purchasing an additional 974,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of 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 issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $574,894.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,579,696.12. This trade represents a 13.84% 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 three months, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $41.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.19. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

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

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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