Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CAO Sells $50,077.36 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total value of $50,077.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 8,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,196.72. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

William James Iv Eckert also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 10th, William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00.
• On Friday, May 15th, William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00.

Equitable Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of EQH traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.52. 3,084,582 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,763,436. The firm has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.05.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wolfe Research cut Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.75.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 311,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,965,000 after acquiring an additional 36,135 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Equitable by 20.0% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $550,995,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at $49,209,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.