Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management increased its stake in Equitable Holdings by 301.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 146,829 shares valued at about $7.0 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions, and hedge funds now own 92.7% of Equitable’s stock, highlighting strong institutional interest.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, beating estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share while also authorizing a $1 billion share repurchase program.

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 301.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,829 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 110,235 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Equitable worth $6,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia lifted its holdings in Equitable by 4,141.8% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company's stock worth $62,726,000 after buying an additional 1,206,122 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,209,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at $658,694.88. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% 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. Insiders have sold 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on Equitable and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $41.35 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.38. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -38.03%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.