Equitable (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd Sells 14,358 Shares of Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. This trade represents a 14.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Equitable Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $41.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of -8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.72.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Equitable by 180.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 32,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its stake in Equitable by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 241,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,616,000 after buying an additional 50,455 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,684,000. Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Equitable by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 299,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,203,000 after buying an additional 59,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. grew its stake in Equitable by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 712,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,151,000 after buying an additional 158,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Equitable

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded EQH from “market perform” to “strong-buy” with a $58 price target (implying ~39% upside from current levels), which is a clear bullish catalyst for investors. Raymond James Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Management and counterpart Corebridge have discussed potential share buybacks ahead of the pending Corebridge–Equitable transaction; buyback talk typically supports the share price by reducing float and signaling confidence in valuation. Buybacks & Merger Discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed (all executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans): COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares (~$40.58 avg), Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares (~$40.44 avg), and CEO Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares (~$40.03 avg). Because these were planned 10b5‑1 trades the market impact is muted, but such filings can still raise short-term selling pressure. Filing links: Hurd SEC Filing Lane SEC Filing Pearson SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and fundamental headwinds: the 50‑day moving average (~$40.06) sits below the 200‑day (~$44.79) and key metrics show negative earnings (negative P/E) and high reported leverage; these factors can limit upside and contribute to continued selling pressure despite positive headlines.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQH. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.91.

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.