Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Position Reduced by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 57.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,927 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,185 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 180.7% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 32,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 21,127 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in Equitable by 26.5% during the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 241,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,616,000 after purchasing an additional 50,455 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Equitable by 18.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,168,000 after purchasing an additional 615,314 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $1,684,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. grew its position in Equitable by 28.6% in the third quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 712,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,151,000 after buying an additional 158,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $44.35 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.39 and a 52-week high of $56.61.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -22.41%.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays cut their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.42.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $1,712,658.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were 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 owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.