Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys Shares of 362,158 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 362,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,390,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.12% of Equitable as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupe la Francaise grew its position in Equitable by 8.2% during the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its stake in Equitable by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 2.1% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Equitable by 11.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFC Investments LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 0.4% during the second quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,224,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $1,712,658.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Up 1.0%

EQH stock opened at $46.10 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.70 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $41.39 and a one year high of $56.61.

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). The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Equitable from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.54.

About Equitable

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.