Bertram Scott Sells 1,466 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Bertram Scott sold 1,466 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.15, for a total transaction of $74,985.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,684.75. This trade represents a 5.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH traded up $1.00 on Monday, reaching $52.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,084,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,763,436. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.98 and a 200 day moving average of $43.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.34 billion, a PE ratio of -15.87, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $55.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.Equitable’s revenue was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.13 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Mizuho set a $68.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Equitable in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Equitable by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other 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.