Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CAO Sells $259,346.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Equitable CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares on June 10 at an average price of $41.83, for proceeds of about $259,346. After the sale, he still held 9,366 shares, reducing his stake by 39.83%.
• This was his second recent stock sale, following a May 15 transaction in which he sold 7,300 shares for about $310,104.
• Equitable reported solid quarterly results and shareholder returns, beating EPS and revenue estimates, raising its quarterly dividend to $0.30 from $0.27, and maintaining a $1 billion share repurchase authorization.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 9,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

William James Iv Eckert also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.85. The stock had a trading volume of 5,316,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,881,233. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.21. 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 (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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