Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,278 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,978 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equitable were worth $7,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth $703,060,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $101,547,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551,551 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Equitable by 71.5% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,521 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at $30,166,059. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE EQH opened at $44.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.20, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $41.39 and a one year high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.91.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -22.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.42.

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.