Oak Thistle LLC Takes Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 39,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $38.88 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.30. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.07, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.