CI Investments Inc. Sells 24,196 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

CI Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 970,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,196 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $36,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $550,995,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Equitable by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after buying an additional 2,532,791 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Equitable by 7,955.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394,721 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 337.4% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,890 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,273,054.10. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 88,803 shares of company stock worth $3,913,078 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $48.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.92. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -42.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.08.

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.