Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Insider Sells $187,501.65 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,273,054.10. This represents a 3.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nick Lane also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 15th, Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $400,400.00.

Equitable Trading Up 2.9%

EQH opened at $42.46 on Thursday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a PE ratio of -14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EQH. Barclays upped their price target on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.18.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 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.