Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $5.65 Million Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 118,527 shares valued at about $5.65 million.
• Analysts remain mostly upbeat on EQH, with recent price-target increases from firms including Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Mizuho and Barclays. The stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $58.18.
• Equitable reported better-than-expected quarterly results, raised its dividend to $0.30 per share, and has an approved $1 billion share repurchase program.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,527 shares of the company's stock after selling 68,614 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Equitable were worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $81,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho increased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total value of $609,353.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. This trade represents a 15.31% 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 have sold 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Up 1.1%

EQH stock opened at $40.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.19, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average price is $40.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.25. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

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. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

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

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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