Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 637,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,217 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $23,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Equitable by 2.1% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 58,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd lifted its position in Equitable by 72.4% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 8,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the first quarter valued at approximately $309,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 67.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $47.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.84, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 154,248 shares of company stock worth $6,608,358 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQH. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.08.

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.