Insider Selling: Equitable (NYSE:EQH) COO Sells $332,642.10 in Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.99, for a total value of $332,642.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 75,098 shares in the company, valued at $3,679,051.02. The trade was a 8.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $47.43 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.25 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.39 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equitable from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.45.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth about $703,060,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equitable by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061,496 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,789,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,536,000 after purchasing an additional 265,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Equitable by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,498,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,521 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.