SEB Asset Management AB Makes New $6.79 Million Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 183,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,795,000. SEB Asset Management AB owned 0.07% of Equitable as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Equitable by 2.5% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 841,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,210,000 after purchasing an additional 20,200 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Equitable by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 291,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,800,000 after purchasing an additional 26,100 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $391,000. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Equitable by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 72,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $186,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.08.

Equitable Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of EQH opened at $48.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.92.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -42.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total value of $1,797,616.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 765,903 shares in the company, valued at $34,680,087.84. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the sale, the director owned 27,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,147,405.48. This represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,803 shares of company stock worth $3,913,078. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.