Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Lowers Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. cut its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 60.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,623 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $81,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.82.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $41.48 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.19. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors 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 was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equitable 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.