Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 48,771 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 534.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,900 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,771 shares during the quarter. Equitable accounts for approximately 0.7% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 154.3% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 743,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,346,877.36. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.57, for a total transaction of $237,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at $6,615,702.61. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 117,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,993,760. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 0.1%

Equitable stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.97. The stock had a trading volume of 5,196,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,571,369. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $36.46 and a one year high of $56.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Equitable's quarterly revenue was up 105.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Equitable's payout ratio is 29.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.67.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.