Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC Invests $9.92 Billion in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 226,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,918,196,000. Equitable makes up approximately 2.0% of Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $49.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $55.15. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of -15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 74,748 shares in the company, valued at $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.