Jeffrey Hurd Sells 14,358 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,073.74. The trade was a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Equitable Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $41.68 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.67. The company has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.65, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Equitable by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Equitable by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equitable by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Equitable News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded EQH from “market perform” to “strong-buy” with a $58 price target (implying ~39% upside from current levels), which is a clear bullish catalyst for investors. Raymond James Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Management and counterpart Corebridge have discussed potential share buybacks ahead of the pending Corebridge–Equitable transaction; buyback talk typically supports the share price by reducing float and signaling confidence in valuation. Buybacks & Merger Discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed (all executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans): COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares (~$40.58 avg), Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares (~$40.44 avg), and CEO Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares (~$40.03 avg). Because these were planned 10b5‑1 trades the market impact is muted, but such filings can still raise short-term selling pressure. Filing links: Hurd SEC Filing Lane SEC Filing Pearson SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and fundamental headwinds: the 50‑day moving average (~$40.06) sits below the 200‑day (~$44.79) and key metrics show negative earnings (negative P/E) and high reported leverage; these factors can limit upside and contribute to continued selling pressure despite positive headlines.

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.