Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its Equitable Holdings stake by 5.5% in the first quarter, selling 37,217 shares and leaving it with 637,076 shares valued at about $23.6 million.
• Equitable insiders also sold shares recently, including CEO Mark Pearson and insider Nick Lane, with total insider sales reaching 154,248 shares over the past three months.
• The company reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, and continues to hold a Moderate Buy analyst consensus with an average price target of $60.08.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 637,076 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,217 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Equitable worth $23,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 154,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,608,358 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho upped their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research raised Equitable from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.08.

Equitable Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $47.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $43.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.91.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.25%.

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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