Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Stock Holdings Decreased by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Equitable Holdings stake by 94.3% in the second quarter, selling 637,263 shares and retaining 38,750 shares valued at approximately $1.7 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.7% of EQH, while several analysts raised price targets. The stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $61.82.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, topping estimates of $1.65, but revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, or a 2.2% annualized yield.

Engineers Gate Manager LP decreased its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 94.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,750 shares of the company's stock after selling 637,263 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Equitable were worth $1,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQH. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,136,305,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $550,995,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Equitable during the second quarter worth $399,576,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Equitable by 6.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,784,986 shares of the company's stock worth $385,485,000 after purchasing an additional 523,638 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.82.

Equitable Stock Down 0.1%

Equitable stock opened at $53.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $55.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Equitable's revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Equitable's payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total value of $1,927,038.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Craig MacKay sold 2,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,999 shares in the company, valued at $975,978.63. The trade was a 10.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 67,736 shares of company stock worth $3,398,996. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, life insurance and wealth management solutions. Its businesses serve individuals, families, employers and institutions through financial professionals and advisory channels.

The company's principal operations include Equitable, which offers individual life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, and Equitable Advisors, which provides financial planning and investment advice. Equitable Holdings also owns a majority interest in AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm serving institutional and retail clients.

The company traces its history to 1859, when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was founded.

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