Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Insider Nick Lane Sells 14,923 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: Equitable insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares at an average price of $53.24, generating $794,500.52. His remaining stake fell 11.95% to 110,007 shares.
• Stock and earnings: EQH shares recently declined 1.8% to $51.99, despite the company reporting quarterly EPS of $1.70, beating estimates by $0.05. Revenue fell 29.8% year over year.
• Investor outlook: Equitable pays a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing a 2.3% yield, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $61.75.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 110,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Equitable Stock Down 1.8%

Equitable stock traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.99. 3,014,896 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,588,205. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $55.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $49.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -36.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Equitable by 20.0% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 valued at $14,965,000 after buying an additional 36,135 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,640,000 after buying an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 301.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,829 shares of the company's stock worth $6,996,000 after buying an additional 110,235 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.75.

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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