Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 60,625 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 437.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,483 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,625 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 299,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,203,000 after acquiring an additional 59,700 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 311,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,135 shares in the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 80.7% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 209,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 93,660 shares in the last quarter. Advent International L.P. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $26,893,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Equitable by 25.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 532,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,057,000 after purchasing an additional 106,967 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of EQH opened at $43.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $56.53.

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

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s payout ratio is -42.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 216,919 shares of company stock worth $9,118,088 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.