Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Sells 33,431 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA cut its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 47.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,431 shares during the period. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Equitable by 1,126.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 291,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,332,000 after acquiring an additional 267,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 45.8% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 626,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,120,000 after acquiring an additional 196,729 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $45.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -42.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Friday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total transaction of $259,346.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 216,919 shares of company stock worth $9,118,088 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.