Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Stock Holdings Lessened by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 13.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,333 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Equitable were worth $4,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake 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. boosted its position in 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 during the period. Prana Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Equitable by 80.7% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 209,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 93,660 shares during the last quarter. Advent International L.P. acquired a new position in Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,893,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, 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 value of $1,652,711.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. 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 sold 154,248 shares of company stock worth $6,608,358 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $45.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $55.28. The company has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (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 positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

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.