Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 78.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,432 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,052 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in Equitable by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 377,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,015,000 after acquiring an additional 58,506 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Estate Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at about $1,688,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Equitable by 20.0% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Equitable by 137.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 201,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,471,000 after purchasing an additional 116,563 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 128,503 shares of company stock worth $5,840,116 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Down 1.2%

EQH opened at $51.57 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of -15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 249.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -36.25%.

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.