Nick Lane Sells 30,000 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.87, for a total value of $1,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,742,389.46. This trade represents a 20.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.04. The stock had a trading volume of 6,333,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,842,638. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.39 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.85. The company has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth about $703,060,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd 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. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $101,547,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 553.0% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,166,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,889 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equitable by 26.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,428,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,551 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.