Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 14,284 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 37.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,284 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $42.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.18.

Equitable 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.