The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 90,858 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 654,941 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,858 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Equitable were worth $27,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 60.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 145,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 7,472 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 37.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Equitable by 23.1% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 106,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,064,000 after purchasing an additional 20,067 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.70.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $48.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $50.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.25 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $45.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.36.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $1,422,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,166 shares of company stock valued at $4,443,605 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.