First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its Equitable Holdings position by 96.1% in the first quarter, selling 2.04 million shares and retaining 83,657 shares valued at $3.1 million. Institutional investors still own 92.7% of EQH.
• Analyst sentiment remains largely positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.75, above the reported $52.24 share price.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, beating estimates of $1.65, but revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, equal to a 2.3% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 96.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,044,489 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Equitable were worth $3,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $822,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,861 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company's stock worth $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Equitable by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.75.

Equitable Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $52.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $45.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.01. The stock has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 249.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equitable's revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is -36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,273,054.10. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 128,503 shares of company stock worth $5,840,116. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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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