Anchor Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Anchor Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 81.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,367 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equitable were worth $152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advent International L.P. purchased a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter worth $26,893,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,129,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,347,000 after buying an additional 224,244 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 184.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 122,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,236,000 after acquiring an additional 79,687 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 544,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,629,000 after acquiring an additional 99,454 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.64.

Equitable Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $37.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.91 and a 200-day moving average of $47.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.84, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.79 and a 12 month high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,166,059. The trade was a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 146,190 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,120 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.