Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,925 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 5,039 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Equitable during the first quarter worth about $2,094,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Equitable by 12.1% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 36,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 71,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,720,000 after purchasing an additional 10,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Equitable by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 39,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.18.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $46.84 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of -16.97 and a beta of 1.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $1,712,658.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 676,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total value of $293,871.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 68,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,956,370.24. The trade was a 9.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,358 shares of company stock valued at $8,760,599. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Equitable

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.