Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Insider Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Equitable insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares on April 15 at an average price of $40.44 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his stake by 7.45% to 124,218 shares (≈$5.02M); he also sold 10,000 shares on April 8 at $40.04.
• The company recently authorized a $1.00 billion buyback (up to ~7.7% of shares) and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (annualized yield ~2.6%), indicating capital-return initiatives.
• Equitable shares trade around <$41.68> with a 52-week range of $35.19–$56.61 and a market cap of ~$11.7B; analysts show a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $56.91, though the company reports a negative P/E.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total transaction of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nick Lane also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 8th, Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $400,400.00.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $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 fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.06 and a 200-day moving average of $44.79.

Equitable declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.91.

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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