Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Grows Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 291,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,100 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Equitable were worth $10,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on Equitable and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the sale, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total transaction of $647,689.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% 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. Insiders sold a total of 128,503 shares of company stock worth $5,565,789 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $47.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of -16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.25%.

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.