Mark Pearson Sells 30,000 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $1,087,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 685,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,825,306. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Mark Pearson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 1st, Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.66, for a total transaction of $1,129,800.00.
• On Friday, March 1st, Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $2,026,200.00.
• On Thursday, February 1st, Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $1,942,800.00.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $36.24 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $38.44. The company has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.51 and a 200-day moving average of $32.20.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group increased their target price on Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,143,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,838,000 after acquiring an additional 854,689 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 3.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 33,444,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $849,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,193 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 10.0% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 26,902,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth approximately $553,559,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Equitable by 3.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,933,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,213,000 after acquiring an additional 336,694 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.