Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Director Bertram Scott Sells 2,470 Shares of Stock

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

Equitable Price Performance

EQH stock opened at $40.86 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.23. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of -14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Equitable’s payout ratio is -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho increased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Equitable by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,861 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Equitable by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Equitable by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares during the period. 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.