Equitable (NYSE:EQH) COO Sells $582,647.64 in Stock

Key Points

• Equitable COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares on April 15 at an average of $40.58 for proceeds of $582,647.64, cutting his holding by 14.54% to 84,403 shares; the transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• The company approved a $1.00 billion share repurchase plan (about 7.7% of shares) and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized $1.08, ~2.6% yield), indicating management is returning capital to shareholders while the stock trades around $41.68 with a consensus target near $56.91.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. The trade was a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,032,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,681,046. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $40.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.79.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings 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. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Two 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, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.91.

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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