Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 301.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 146,829 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110,235 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $6,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.35 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.38. 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 company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -38.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $310,104.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,694.88. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18.

Equitable Company 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.