Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Short Interest Up 25.4% in March

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,770,000 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the February 28th total of 4,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $369,163.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,023.24. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,109,411.76. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position 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. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in Equitable by 154.3% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $54.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $35.49 and a fifty-two week high of $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.69.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Equitable from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.