Nick Lane Sells 4,417 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total transaction of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,273,054.10. The trade was a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nick Lane also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 15th, Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $400,400.00.

Equitable Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $41.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.52, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.65.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EQH shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.18.

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.