The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New $28.51 Million Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 649,646 Equitable Holdings shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $28.5 million and representing a 0.24% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 92.7% of the company.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, beating estimates of $1.65, but revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, equal to a 2.4% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $61.75 target price versus the stock’s $50.01 opening price; however, insiders sold more than 114,000 shares over the past three months.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 649,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,506,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.24% of Equitable as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $50.01 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $55.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of -15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50-day moving average price is $48.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.54.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable's payout ratio is -36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,570,181.62. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $386,550.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. This represents a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.75.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EQH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.