Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson Sells 39,700 Shares

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $1,797,616.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 765,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,680,087.84. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Monday, April 20th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00.
• On Wednesday, April 15th, Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $55,521.61.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Mark Pearson sold 38,313 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total value of $1,534,435.65.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $44.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -42.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Essential Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 245.2% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

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.