Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Bought by Janus Henderson Group PLC

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 78.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,432 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,052 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 377,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,015,000 after buying an additional 58,506 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter valued at $1,688,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Equitable by 20.0% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,274,000 after acquiring an additional 104,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Equitable by 137.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 201,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,471,000 after acquiring an additional 116,563 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total transaction of $647,689.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. The trade was a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 128,503 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,116. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $68.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $51.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.07. The company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 249.82% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -36.25%.

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.