L2 Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 138.2% in the second quarter. Natixis now owns 654,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,700,000 after acquiring an additional 379,594 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Equitable by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 594,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,377,000 after acquiring an additional 33,838 shares during the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 131.0% in the 2nd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 739,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,505,000 after purchasing an additional 419,554 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 20.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,238,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,574,000 after purchasing an additional 376,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 250.0% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 82,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,615,000 after purchasing an additional 58,757 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total transaction of $293,871.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 68,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,956,370.24. This represents a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 140,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 have sold 176,358 shares of company stock worth $8,760,599 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3%

EQH stock opened at $46.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.09. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.18.

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.