American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 86.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 435,567 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202,021 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Equitable worth $17,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1,161.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,692,000 after purchasing an additional 7,227,568 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24,432.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after acquiring an additional 781,426 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 57.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,470,000 after purchasing an additional 721,028 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Equitable in the first quarter valued at $27,237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $42.13 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $40.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The business’s revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Barclays started coverage on Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group cut shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,321 shares in the company, valued at $819,596.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 73,469 shares of company stock worth $3,067,434. 1.10% of the stock is 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.