Equitable (NYSE:EQH) to Buyback $1.00 billion in Outstanding Stock

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on EQH. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.42.

Equitable Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $1.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,236,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,267,616. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.24, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This trade represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.