Algebris UK Ltd. Purchases 581,479 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Algebris UK Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 81.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,293,939 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 581,479 shares during the quarter. Equitable comprises about 2.9% of Algebris UK Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Algebris UK Ltd.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $61,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 4.5% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 1.2% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 33,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $42.46 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.61. The firm has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a PE ratio of -14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month 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, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,273,054.10. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 79,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. The trade was a 15.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 154,191 shares of company stock worth $6,311,969 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.18.

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.