Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 64,439 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 64,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,272,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth about $703,060,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 553.0% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,166,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,553,000 after buying an additional 1,834,889 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $415,786,000 after buying an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,486,286 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Equitable by 29.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.54.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $45.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a PE ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.39 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.68.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. The trade was a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.