Pzena Investment Management LLC Purchases 28,340 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,325,348 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,340 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $206,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st 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. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,273,054.10. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $310,104.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares in the company, valued at $658,694.88. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Equitable News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equitable raised its quarterly dividend 11.1% to $0.30 per share, reinforcing confidence in cash generation and returning more capital to shareholders. Equitable Holdings Increases Common Stock Dividend and Declares Preferred Stock Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: A Zacks item said the dividend hike reflects strong cash flow growth and continued advancement of the Corebridge Financial merger, which could improve long-term earnings power if integration goes well. Equitable Holdings Raises Dividend 11% Amid Strong Cash Flow Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Director Francis Hondal disclosed multiple small open-market stock purchases over time, which may be interpreted as insider confidence in the company’s outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha article labeled EQH a “Hold,” suggesting some investors still see the stock as more of a steady-value/transition story than a clear breakout name. Equitable Holdings Is A Hold, Expecting Successful Integration With Corebridge After Merger

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on EQH. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.18.

Equitable Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:EQH opened at $42.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of -14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -38.03%.

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.