Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Director Sells $113,014.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Craig Mackay sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,978.63. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Equitable Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:EQH opened at $52.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of -15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $55.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.The company’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -36.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 13.1% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in Equitable by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,274,000 after acquiring an additional 104,439 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $550,995,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $49,209,000. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EQH. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.17.

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.