Charles G.T. Stonehill Sells 7,500 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $386,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,357 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,759.78. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Equitable Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded up $1.00 during trading on Monday, reaching $52.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,084,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,763,436. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $55.24. The company has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during 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%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm 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 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -36.25%.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.75.

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.