Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Raises Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 89,745 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,356 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Equitable were worth $5,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 592.6% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the first quarter worth $33,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.18.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.17, for a total value of $1,912,349.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,191,056.80. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $1,991,952.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 140,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,573,932. This trade represents a 20.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 172,168 shares of company stock valued at $8,994,990 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $44.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.15 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.39 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.84.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.13%.

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.