Insiders At Equitable Holdings Sold US$3.9m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

In the last year, many Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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Equitable Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Head of Asset Management, Seth Bernstein, for US$3.0m worth of shares, at about US$50.45 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$55.85, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was 58% of Seth Bernstein's holding.

In the last year Equitable Holdings insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Equitable Holdings

I will like Equitable Holdings better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insiders At Equitable Holdings Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Equitable Holdings. In total, insiders sold US$3.6m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Does Equitable Holdings Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Equitable Holdings insiders own 0.5% of the company, worth about US$86m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Equitable Holdings Tell Us?

Insiders sold Equitable Holdings shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But since Equitable Holdings is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Equitable Holdings. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Equitable Holdings that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

But note: Equitable Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.