Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

Key Points

• London Co. of Virginia cut its Equitable Holdings stake by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 264,313 shares and leaving it with 970,930 shares valued at about $46.3 million.
• Equitable posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting $1.62 EPS versus the $1.60 consensus and revenue of $4.23 billion, while analysts still see full-year EPS of 7.07.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.27, and Wall Street remains generally positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $58.64.

London Co. of Virginia lowered its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 970,930 shares of the company's stock after selling 264,313 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned 0.34% of Equitable worth $46,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $550,995,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock worth $559,232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 7,955.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company's stock worth $116,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,721 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 114.8% in 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 period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 337.4% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company's stock worth $76,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $45.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total transaction of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $391,779.78. This trade represents a 39.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,861 shares of company stock valued at $6,672,783. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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