UBS Group AG Has $48.07 Million Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 97.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,008,792 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 497,180 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Equitable were worth $48,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1,350.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $43.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.08 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.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. Equitable’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $574,894.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 89,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,579,696.12. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQH. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.09.

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.