O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Lowers Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• O Shaughnessy Asset Management cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 247,869 shares valued at about $11.8 million.
• Equitable recently reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue, posting $1.62 EPS versus the $1.60 estimate and $4.23 billion in revenue versus $3.95 billion expected.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.27 and still has a $1 billion share repurchase authorization in place.

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 247,869 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,934 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Equitable worth $11,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.5% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $41.92 on Wednesday. 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 $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.76, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.21. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently -42.25%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.18.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. The trade was a 8.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 156,661 shares of company stock valued at $6,413,437 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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