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

Key Points

• Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable on April 20 at an average price of $41.63 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, totaling about $1.65M and reducing his stake to 789,183 shares; combined with April 8 and 15 sales, he sold 79,400 shares during the month.
• Board approved a $1.00 billion share buyback (up to 7.7% of outstanding stock) and the company recently paid a $0.27 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.08, ~2.6% yield).
• Shares traded down ~1.6% to $40.99 amid analyst price-target cuts (average target $56.91) and heavy institutional ownership (92.7%), giving the stock a consensus of "Moderate Buy."

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Pearson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 15th, Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $1,534,435.65.

Equitable Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.99. The stock had a trading volume of 3,487,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,672,130. The firm has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $56.61. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $39.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.58.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given 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 payout ratio is -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.91.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $550,995,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Equitable by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Equitable by 7,955.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394,721 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia increased its stake in Equitable by 4,141.8% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,235,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206,122 shares in the last quarter. 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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