Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Purchased by Jessup Wealth Management Inc

Jessup Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 143,071 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,023 shares during the period. Equitable accounts for 2.3% of Jessup Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Jessup Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Equitable were worth $6,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $550,995,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Equitable by 49.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its position in Equitable by 4,141.8% during the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 337.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at $3,369,863.32. This trade represents a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,273,054.10. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,861 shares of company stock valued at $6,672,783. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.20.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Equitable’s payout ratio is -42.25%.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Company Profile

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.