Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Lowers Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Munich Reinsurance Co. drastically reduced its stake in Equitable, cutting its position by 68.7% in Q4 — selling 87,050 shares and retaining 39,595 shares valued at about $1.904 million.
• Equitable's board approved a $1.0 billion share repurchase program (up to 7.7% of outstanding stock) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized $1.08, ~2.6% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 128,116 shares (~$5.2M) in the past 90 days (including COO and CEO sales under Rule 10b5‑1), while institutional investors own about 92.7% of the stock.

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich cut its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 68.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,595 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,050 shares during the quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich's holdings in Equitable were worth $1,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 1,350.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $41.17 on Friday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.35. The company has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,403 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,073.74. The trade was a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQH. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.91.

About Equitable

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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