Nick Lane Sells 14,923 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total value of $794,500.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $52.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.97. The company has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.76, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for 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 business’s revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Mizuho set a $68.00 price target on Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Equitable by 20.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake 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 valued at $14,965,000 after purchasing an additional 36,135 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth about $550,995,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Equitable by 301.2% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 110,235 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.