9,106,103 Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,106,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,576,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Equitable by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 311,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,965,000 after buying an additional 36,135 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,274,000 after buying an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $550,995,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $49,209,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Down 0.3%

EQH stock opened at $48.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.46. The firm has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of -14.77, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -36.25%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $386,550.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. This represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 1,466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total value of $74,985.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,465 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,684.75. The trade was a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 114,541 shares of company stock worth $5,357,784 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price target on Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

About Equitable

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.