Mark Pearson Sells 30,000 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, January 15th, Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $51.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.48 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.76.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,705,000 after purchasing an additional 535,671 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,752,000 after purchasing an additional 79,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,250,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after purchasing an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.75.

About Equitable

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.