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

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 86.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 435,567 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 202,021 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $17,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 6.0% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 222,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,087,000 after buying an additional 12,600 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 113,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in Equitable by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 23,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter worth about $268,000. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,596.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 73,469 shares of company stock worth $3,067,434. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equitable Stock Down 0.8 %

EQH stock opened at $42.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.41. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $44.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group cut Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.64.

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.