Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Holdings Decreased by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 37.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,186,627 shares of the company’s stock after selling 711,277 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $56,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $101,547,000. London Co. of Virginia grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4,141.8% during the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,122 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in Equitable by 122.8% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,768,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,223,000 after buying an additional 974,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.55.

Equitable Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $37.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.84. The company has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.81, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.