Insider Selling: Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, November 15th, Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total value of $1,422,900.00.
• On Tuesday, October 15th, Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00.

Equitable Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of EQH stock traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $46.55. 2,285,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,487,188. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $31.76 and a one year high of $50.51. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of -42.72 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.95.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is -88.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Equitable by 892.9% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equitable by 86.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Equitable by 623.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.