Kempner Capital Management Inc. Sells 44,274 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Kempner Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,274 shares during the period. Equitable comprises approximately 2.1% of Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Kempner Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $2,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 180.8% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter worth about $5,374,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 66.4% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 50,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 20,001 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 212.7% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 43,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 29,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in shares of Equitable by 1.6% during the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 69,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.88, for a total value of $1,900,836.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 665,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,861,506.60. This represents a 5.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $328,296.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 61,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,988,658.55. This represents a 9.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 173,770 shares of company stock worth $8,120,014. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho began coverage on Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

Equitable Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $48.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.60 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company’s revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s payout ratio is -39.13%.

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.