Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CAO Sells $212,360.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.09, for a total transaction of $212,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,615.43. This trade represents a 16.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Equitable Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $54.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $51.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.08. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.46 and a 1 year high of $56.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.14). Equitable had a return on equity of 79.05% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.3% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 706,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.1% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 471,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,551,000 after purchasing an additional 14,038 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Equitable in the first quarter valued at $1,586,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 2.6% in the first quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 40,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 4.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,789,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,536,000 after buying an additional 265,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQH. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.67.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.