UBS Group AG Has $48.07 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• UBS Group AG raised its stake in Equitable by 97.2% in Q4 to 1,008,792 shares worth about $48.07 million, representing roughly 0.35% of the company.
• Equitable has initiated a $1.00 billion share buyback (up to 7.7% of shares) and pays a $0.27 quarterly dividend (2.5% yield); it reported Q1 EPS of $1.62 (beat) and $4.23 billion revenue but still shows a negative net margin and high debt-to-equity.
• Insiders sold 128,116 shares valued at about $5.2 million over the past 90 days — including CEO Mark Pearson and Nick Lane under Rule 10b5-1 plans — with insiders now owning 1.10% of the stock.

UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 97.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,008,792 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 497,180 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.35% of Equitable worth $48,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,350.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 0.6%

EQH stock opened at $43.80 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of -15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $39.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.05.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.09.

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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