JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,436,704 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 683,595 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.50% of Equitable worth $72,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 1.8%

NYSE:EQH opened at $37.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.79 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of -7.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.96.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQH. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $323,543.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,166,059. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.