Rhumbline Advisers Has $45.95 Million Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 904,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,149 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.30% of Equitable worth $45,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $703,060,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 29.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 18.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,168,000 after purchasing an additional 615,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Equitable by 71.5% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486,286 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. The trade was a 5.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $44.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.20, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.91.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQH. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.42.

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.