National Pension Service Has $25.41 Million Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

National Pension Service increased its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 24.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 500,428 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,711 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Equitable were worth $25,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $371,000. Smith Asset Management Co. LLC grew its position in Equitable by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 71,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,533 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 139,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,070,000 after purchasing an additional 11,024 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 53,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 180.7% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 32,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.54.

Equitable Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EQH opened at $46.73 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $47.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.35. 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 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.