Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CEO Sells $1,834,140.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,166,059. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Mark Pearson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, December 18th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.88, for a total value of $1,900,836.00.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total value of $1,712,658.00.

Equitable Stock Down 1.6%

EQH stock opened at $45.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.39 and a twelve month high of $56.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Equitable by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,812,000 after acquiring an additional 193,640 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $229,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $1,869,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 11.4% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

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.