Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $235.07 Million Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,629,268 shares of the company’s stock after selling 868,823 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.55% of Equitable worth $235,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter worth $703,060,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,985,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,168,000 after buying an additional 615,314 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 71.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,958,000 after buying an additional 1,486,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Equitable by 25.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,266,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,175,000 after buying an additional 454,325 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $58.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.54.

Equitable Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $46.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.96 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.39 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,742,389.46. The trade was a 20.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $1,712,658.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 676,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,185,935.60. This trade represents a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 164,070 shares of company stock worth $7,628,066 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.