Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Director Craig Mackay Sells 2,000 Shares

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Director Craig Mackay sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.27, for a total value of $108,540.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,999 shares in the company, valued at $922,535.73. The trade was a 10.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $54.00 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.19 and a twelve month high of $55.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Equitable by 20.0% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 627,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,439 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 4th quarter worth about $550,995,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equitable by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,902 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 301.2% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 146,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,996,000 after buying an additional 110,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Equitable by 24.4% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 336,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,473,000 after buying an additional 66,009 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.82.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, life insurance and wealth management solutions. Its businesses serve individuals, families, employers and institutions through financial professionals and advisory channels.

The company’s principal operations include Equitable, which offers individual life insurance, annuities, retirement plans and employee benefits, and Equitable Advisors, which provides financial planning and investment advice. Equitable Holdings also owns a majority interest in AllianceBernstein, a global investment management firm serving institutional and retail clients.

The company traces its history to 1859, when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was founded.