Close Asset Management Ltd Buys Shares of 887,970 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 887,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,091,000. Equitable comprises 1.0% of Close Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Close Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.31% of Equitable at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EQH. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 86,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Equitable by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 579,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,419,000 after buying an additional 114,905 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in Equitable by 9.8% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,867,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,179,000 after acquiring an additional 12,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 55.0% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 36,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,987 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.90 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.53 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.69, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 157,280 shares of company stock worth $7,455,677 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EQH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.27.

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.