William James Iv Eckert Sells 1,700 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $79,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $47.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of -43.46 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.83 and its 200 day moving average is $43.18. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $50.51. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $587,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 230.0% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,678 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Equitable by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 62,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 22,346 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equitable by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,742,000 after buying an additional 249,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $772,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.