Bank of Nova Scotia Decreases Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 21.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 144,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,036 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Equitable were worth $8,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Equitable during the first quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 592.6% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Equitable by 64.0% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 938 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $1,991,952.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 140,258 shares in the company, valued at $7,573,932. The trade was a 20.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 176,358 shares of company stock valued at $8,760,599 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $47.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of -17.36 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.39 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.18.

Equitable Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.