Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Takes $22.51 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management acquired 512,957 Equitable Holdings shares worth approximately $22.51 million, while institutional investors collectively own 92.7% of the company.
• Equitable exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.70 in EPS versus the $1.65 consensus estimate, though revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $61.50 versus the stock’s reported $50.09 price; the company also pays a $0.30 quarterly dividend.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 512,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,509,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. owned 0.19% of Equitable at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Bruni J V & Co. Co. bought a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter valued at $33,652,845,000. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,850,000. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,632,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the second quarter worth about $244,052,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 34,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 114,541 shares of company stock worth $5,357,784 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $50.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.13, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.37.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised Equitable from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.50.

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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