Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 24.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 336,272 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 66,009 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Equitable were worth $12,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the first quarter worth approximately $480,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,047,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 47.2% in the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 34,237 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter worth $1,231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $45.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.05, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -42.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total value of $647,689.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 74,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 216,919 shares of company stock valued at $9,118,088. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

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.