Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey J. Hurd Sells 6,666 Shares

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,039,221.85. The trade was a 6.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

EQH stock opened at $51.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.17. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.76 and a 12 month high of $52.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is -88.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,191,000 after purchasing an additional 153,457 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 230.0% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,678 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 7.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Equitable by 55.3% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.18.

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.