First National Bank of Omaha Buys Shares of 49,669 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 49,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 2.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. NFC Investments LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 0.4% during the second quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its position in shares of Equitable by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 938 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $45.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.46, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,166,059. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 157,280 shares of company stock valued at $7,455,677. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.42.

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.