Qsemble Capital Management LP Decreases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Qsemble Capital Management cut its stake in Equitable Holdings by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,764 shares and leaving it with 103,008 shares worth about $4.91 million.
• Equitable recently posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.62 versus estimates of $1.60 and revenue of $4.23 billion versus expectations of $3.95 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on EQH, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $58.18, while the company has also authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program.

Qsemble Capital Management LP lessened its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,008 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,764 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP's holdings in Equitable were worth $4,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth $1,133,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Equitable by 1,126.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 291,126 shares of the company's stock worth $16,332,000 after purchasing an additional 267,389 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Equitable by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 626,017 shares of the company's stock worth $35,120,000 after purchasing an additional 196,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target 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. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of EQH opened at $42.56 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually 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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