National Pension Service Has $26.63 Million Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 558,782 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,354 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Equitable were worth $26,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $41.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of -14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -38.03%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQH. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18.

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.