Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Director Sells $101,467.60 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Bertram Scott sold 2,470 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Equitable Stock Up 1.6%

Equitable stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,288,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,886,006. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.25.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQH. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 1,126.5% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 291,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,332,000 after purchasing an additional 267,389 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 45.8% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 626,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,120,000 after purchasing an additional 196,729 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.