Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Insider Nick Lane Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,958 shares in the company, valued at $5,742,389.46. This represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Equitable Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $48.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.82. The company has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a PE ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is -39.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Wolfe Research raised Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth about $703,060,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Equitable by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $101,547,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 553.0% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,166,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.