Craig Mackay Sells 2,200 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Craig Mackay sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.37, for a total value of $113,014.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $975,978.63. This represents a 10.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Equitable Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $51.72 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $55.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the second quarter worth approximately $1,136,305,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $244,052,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in Equitable in the second quarter valued at $208,146,000. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Equitable News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KBW reaffirmed its Buy/Outperform view and raised its price target to $67 from $62. The new target implies meaningful upside from recent trading levels and reinforces the bullish analyst outlook for EQH. KBW Reaffirms Buy Rating on Equitable Holdings
• Positive Sentiment: Merger synergies and capital returns continue to support the investment case. Analysts expect the planned Corebridge Financial combination to generate approximately $550 million in cost synergies and about 10% EPS accretion by 2027. Expected 2026 cash generation of roughly $1.8 billion and buybacks that could reduce the share count by approximately 8% are additional potential catalysts. Equitable Holdings Buybacks and Credit Resilience
• Positive Sentiment: Equitable’s latest earnings exceeded expectations. Second-quarter EPS was $1.70 versus the $1.65 consensus estimate, improving from $1.10 a year earlier. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are assessing second-quarter commentary on merger momentum, organic growth and strategic divestitures. Further details from the earnings call may influence expectations for future growth and execution. EQH Q2 Deep Dive
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders have recently sold EQH shares. Director Craig Mackay sold 2,200 shares for approximately $113,000, following sales by other directors and Chief Accounting Officer William Eckert. Reports cite 34 insider sales and no purchases over the past six months, which could temper investor confidence. Equitable Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue remains a key concern. Quarterly revenue declined 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion, well below the $3.84 billion analyst estimate, limiting the impact of the EPS beat.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.17.

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.