Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Reduces Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its holdings in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,652,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 151,688 shares during the quarter. Equitable makes up 0.7% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.06% of Equitable worth $762,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQH. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1,421.4% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 261.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE:EQH opened at $42.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.89 and a 200 day moving average of $39.39. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 29.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,263,672.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 69,969 shares of company stock worth $2,918,964 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.