OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $1.23 Million in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 33,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,351,000 after buying an additional 1,132,861 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth about $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE EQH opened at $44.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,405.48. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 216,919 shares of company stock worth $9,118,088 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment 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, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

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.