Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,291 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Equitable were worth $3,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Estate Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,688,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Equitable by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Equitable by 137.5% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 201,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,471,000 after buying an additional 116,563 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 902,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,494,000 after buying an additional 181,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Troluce Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,422,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EQH opened at $53.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.14 and its 200 day moving average is $43.29. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a PE ratio of -16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.17.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 1,466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total transaction of $74,985.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,465 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,684.75. This represents a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $386,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,759.78. The trade was a 17.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable 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.