Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Insider Sells $1,429,500.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at $4,762,998.70. The trade was a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Nick Lane also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, December 18th, Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $46.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.87 and its 200 day moving average is $49.93. The company has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a PE ratio of -16.96 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Equitable from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Equitable by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 3,423 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $897,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 116,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Equitable by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 80,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 10,993 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 301,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,361,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equitable

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.