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

Key Points

• Equitable CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares on June 18 at an average price of $45.28, totaling about $1.8 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Equitable recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.62 EPS versus the $1.60 consensus and revenue of $4.23 billion versus estimates of $3.95 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share from $0.27.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on EQH, with analysts assigning a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64. The stock was trading near $44.94, below that target range.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $1,797,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 765,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,680,087.84. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction 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 stock was sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total value of $1,534,435.65.

Equitable Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.94. 4,640,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,927,621. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a PE ratio of -15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day moving average is $42.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.14. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 24.9% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 299,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,203,000 after acquiring an additional 59,700 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Equitable by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 311,976 shares of the company's stock worth $14,965,000 after acquiring an additional 36,135 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Equitable by 80.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 209,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 93,660 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Equitable by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,436,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,956,000 after purchasing an additional 683,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advent International L.P. bought a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,893,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Company Profile

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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