Equitable (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd Sells 6,790 Shares

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $46.80 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.01. 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 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.96 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 592.6% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.54.

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.