Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CEO Sells $1,927,038.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Equitable CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares for approximately $1.93 million at an average price of $48.54. The transaction, conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reduced his direct holdings by 5.01% to 753,403 shares.
• Equitable shares rose 1.6% to $49.36, while the company’s latest quarterly results slightly exceeded expectations with EPS of $1.62 versus the $1.60 consensus and revenue of $4.23 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, equal to an annualized $1.20 payout and a 2.4% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $60.08.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,570,181.62. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 Thursday, June 18th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total transaction of $1,797,616.00.

Equitable Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $49.36. 537,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,747,998. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.92. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $55.24.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Equitable's payout ratio is -42.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research cut Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter worth about $550,995,000. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Equitable by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Equitable by 7,955.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company's stock worth $116,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394,721 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company's stock worth $204,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company's stock worth $76,290,000 after buying an additional 1,158,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

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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