Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 99,419 shares and leaving it with 1,429,491 shares valued at about $68.1 million.
• Equitable’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $1.62 versus the $1.60 estimate and revenue of $4.23 billion versus $3.95 billion expected. The company also reaffirmed strong analyst interest, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy.”
• The company boosted its dividend and maintains a large buyback plan, raising the quarterly payout to $0.30 from $0.27 and authorizing up to $1 billion in share repurchases, equal to about 7.7% of outstanding shares.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,429,491 shares of the company's stock after selling 99,419 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.50% of Equitable worth $68,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors grew 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 buying an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.3% during the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,867,643 shares of the company's stock worth $247,179,000 after buying an additional 12,370 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company's stock worth $229,812,000 after buying an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,325,348 shares of the company's stock worth $206,103,000 after buying an additional 28,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.35 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $40.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company's revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -42.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.18.

Equitable 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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