Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 11,085 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 388,430 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,085 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.12% of Equitable worth $16,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in Equitable by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,678 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Equitable by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,742,000 after purchasing an additional 249,639 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth about $772,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:EQH opened at $47.47 on Monday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.76 and a 1 year high of $50.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.55 and a beta of 1.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This trade represents a 15.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 658,555 shares in the company, valued at $29,239,842. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,166 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,205. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.10.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.