Equitable (NYSE:EQH) CAO William James Iv Eckert Sells 6,200 Shares of Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.83, for a total value of $259,346.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,779.78. This represents a 39.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

William James Iv Eckert also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00.

Equitable Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.20. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Mizuho increased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Equitable Company Profile

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.