Kempner Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Kempner Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 46.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,274 shares during the quarter. Equitable comprises approximately 2.1% of Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at $703,060,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after buying an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,789,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,536,000 after buying an additional 265,759 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 18.3% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,168,000 after acquiring an additional 615,314 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Down 0.3%

EQH opened at $48.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a PE ratio of -17.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This trade represents a 21.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total transaction of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,742,389.46. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 173,770 shares of company stock valued at $8,120,014. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

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.