Nick Lane Sells 25,000 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. The trade was a 15.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $46.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.76 and a 52-week high of $50.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of -42.68 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 2.9% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 388,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,326,000 after acquiring an additional 11,085 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth about $847,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 27.1% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 44,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,883,000 after buying an additional 9,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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.