Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,600,000 shares, a decrease of 27.1% from the February 13th total of 6,310,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Equitable Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE EQH traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,795,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,407,396. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares in the company, valued at $6,492,273.36. This represents a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,589,966 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.