Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 1,495,785 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Equitable Holdings by 4.7%, selling 1,495,785 shares and retaining 30,633,125 shares—about 10.69% of the company valued at roughly $1.46 billion.
• Equitable's board authorized a $1.00 billion share repurchase program (up to 7.7% of shares) and the firm pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized yield ~2.6%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a $56.82 target, after several firms trimmed price targets and ratings.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,633,125 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,495,785 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.69% of Equitable worth $1,459,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 218,990 shares of the company's stock worth $10,484,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 615,489 shares of the company's stock worth $29,328,000 after acquiring an additional 24,848 shares during the last quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 120,375 shares of the company's stock worth $5,736,000 after acquiring an additional 16,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,621 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $574,894.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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. 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 have sold a total of 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $42.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $39.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.18. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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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