PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Buys New Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake of 1,023,485 shares in Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH), valued at about $49.21 million and representing roughly 0.36% ownership.
• Insiders sold 128,116 shares over the last 90 days (including COO Jeffrey Hurd and CEO Mark Pearson), totaling about $5.21 million, with the transactions executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Equitable's board approved a $1.00 billion share repurchase program (up to ~7.7% of shares) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized $1.08, a 2.6% yield).

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,023,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,209,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned approximately 0.36% of Equitable at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its position in Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,867,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,179,000 after purchasing an additional 12,370 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Equitable by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equitable by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,297,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,202,000 after purchasing an additional 55,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Equitable by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,637,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,704,000 after purchasing an additional 72,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $574,894.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,579,696.12. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% 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 sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $42.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.76, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.39 and a 200-day moving average of $44.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable declared 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQH. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Equitable from $57.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.82.

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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