18,819 Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Acquired by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 18,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupe la Francaise boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 8.2% in the second quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 52,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,686,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 33,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EQH. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price target on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.55.

Equitable Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $37.62 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.84. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.81, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,490 shares of company stock worth $3,587,184. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.