Stock Repurchase Program Announced by Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Board of Directors

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.42.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,236,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,267,616. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.00. Equitable has a one year low of $41.39 and a one year high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total value of $203,261.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,593.75. The trade was a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.