Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CEO Sells $1,652,711.00 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,853,688.29. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Mark Pearson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, April 15th, Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $55,521.61.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Mark Pearson sold 38,313 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $1,534,435.65.

Equitable Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $40.99. The stock had a trading volume of 3,487,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,672,130. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.19 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a PE ratio of -8.50, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.58.

Equitable announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,351,000 after buying an additional 1,132,861 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Equitable by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after buying an additional 2,532,791 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Equitable by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,996,000 after buying an additional 22,087 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Equitable by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after buying an additional 193,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% 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.