Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 14,284 Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) by 37.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,284 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equitable were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st 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. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Equitable Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $42.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.78. 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 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of -14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.