Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Acquires Shares of 85,128 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Equitable Holdings, buying 85,128 shares valued at about $4.06 million.
• Equitable’s recent earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $1.62 versus $1.60 expected and revenue of $4.23 billion versus $3.95 billion forecast.
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share and continues its $1 billion share repurchase program, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a $58.18 average price target.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 85,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,060,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Equitable by 49.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 114.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its stake in Equitable by 4,141.8% during the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company's stock worth $62,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206,122 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 337.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $49,209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at $658,694.88. This represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Down 1.8%

EQH opened at $40.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of -14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The firm's revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research 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, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Equitable Company 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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