WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes $667,000 Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Equitable by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth about $81,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,779.78. This trade represents a 39.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 162,861 shares of company stock worth $6,672,783 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $41.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.20.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.18.

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.