Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 3,833,246 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 2,759,507 shares.The stock last traded at $45.44 and had previously closed at $46.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.54.

Equitable Trading Down 1.5%

The firm has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.55 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Equitable’s payout ratio is -39.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares in the company, valued at $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 92.6% during the first 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 118.3% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable during the second quarter valued at $321,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Equitable by 9.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Equitable by 3.9% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 99,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

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.