Equitable (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd Sells 6,790 Shares

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total transaction of $293,871.20. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 68,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,956,370.24. The trade was a 9.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded up $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $43.14. 3,101,076 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,844,653. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.63 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.39 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.81.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The business’s revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $703,060,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Equitable by 49.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,264,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,061,496 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $101,547,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.18.

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.