Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires 61,046 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 73.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,668 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,046 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Equitable were worth $7,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equitable during the first quarter worth $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 154.3% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Equitable during the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up previously from $61.00) on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.30.

Equitable Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of EQH opened at $52.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.15. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.46 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.14.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 79.05%. Equitable’s revenue was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 29.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.22, for a total value of $1,566,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 714,367 shares in the company, valued at $37,304,244.74. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.91, for a total transaction of $264,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,358,352.43. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,666 shares of company stock worth $7,145,208 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company 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.