Insider Selling: Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Sells 6,666 Shares of Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $315,368.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $44.36 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.99. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.76 and a 52-week high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.90 billion, a PE ratio of -40.70 and a beta of 1.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is -88.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.10.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 230.0% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 25,678 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 55.3% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 22,346 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 52.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,742,000 after purchasing an additional 249,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the second quarter worth $772,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.