Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 16,612 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 103.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,704 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,612 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth $703,060,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 553.0% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,166,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,553,000 after buying an additional 1,834,889 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equitable by 26.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,786,000 after buying an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Equitable by 71.5% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486,286 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equitable by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254,521 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $48.04 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.39 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.80. The stock has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a PE ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -39.13%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This trade represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $1,991,952.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 140,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,573,932. This trade represents a 20.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 210,658 shares of company stock valued at $10,111,966. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Mizuho started coverage on Equitable in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $66.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

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.