Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 64,439 Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 64,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,272,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Groupe la Francaise raised its position in Equitable by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5.9% during the second quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 2.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Equitable by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, NFC Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 0.4% in the second quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 75,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $45.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The stock has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.68. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This trade represents a 5.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $58.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.54.

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.