Mark Pearson Sells 1,387 Shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) CEO Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $55,521.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 801,683 shares in the company, valued at $32,091,370.49. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Wednesday, April 8th, Mark Pearson sold 38,313 shares of Equitable stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.05, for a total transaction of $1,534,435.65.
• On Tuesday, January 20th, Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00.

Equitable Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.68. 3,032,547 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,681,046. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Equitable by 11.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Equitable by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equitable by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Equitable

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.91.

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.