Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,142,337 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 148,132 shares during the period. Equitable makes up about 2.2% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $225,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Equitable by 13.1% in the fourth 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 grew its stake in Equitable by 20.0% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,274,000 after buying an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $550,995,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth $49,209,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total transaction of $50,077.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,419 shares in the company, valued at $445,196.72. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig C. Mackay sold 2,200 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,999 shares in the company, valued at $975,978.63. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.58. The firm has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.15, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $55.15. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

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.