M&T Bank Corp Sells 30,837 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 75.1% in Q4, selling 30,837 shares and leaving 10,219 shares valued at about $487,000, according to its SEC filing.
• Equitable's board authorized a $1.00 billion share buyback (up to ~7.7% of shares) and the company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share (annualized $1.08, ~2.6% yield).
• Insiders have sold a net 128,116 shares over the past three months (~$5.2M), including notable sales by Nick Lane and COO Jeffrey Hurd, while institutional ownership remains high at 92.7%.

M&T Bank Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 75.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,219 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,837 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Equitable were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 218,990 shares of the company's stock worth $10,484,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 615,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,328,000 after acquiring an additional 24,848 shares during the period. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 120,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,736,000 after acquiring an additional 16,133 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the company's stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $42.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of -8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.41%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EQH. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.82.

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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