National Pension Service Buys 58,354 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Equitable Holdings stake by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 58,354 additional shares and lifting its total holding to 558,782 shares valued at about $26.6 million.
• Equitable reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, posting EPS of $1.62 versus the $1.60 estimate and revenue of $4.23 billion versus expectations of $3.95 billion.
• The company also announced a $1 billion share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.27, signaling capital returns to shareholders.

National Pension Service grew its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 558,782 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,354 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.20% of Equitable worth $26,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in 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 position in 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 position in 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 position in 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 position in 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. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of EQH opened at $41.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. Equitable's revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Equitable Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equitable

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 owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at $658,694.88. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,369,863.32. This trade represents a 15.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.18.

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.

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