Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys New Stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 24,432.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155,487 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Equitable in the second quarter valued at $110,176,000. Samlyn Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $63,334,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 57.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,470,000 after buying an additional 721,028 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Equitable in the first quarter valued at about $27,237,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,500 shares of company stock worth $2,637,870 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $44.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The company has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.35. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $44.76.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

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.