Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CEO Sells $1,927,038.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, June 18th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $1,797,616.00.

Equitable Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of EQH opened at $48.97 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a PE ratio of -17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Equitable from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.