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

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Equitable Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded up $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,701,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,401,824. Equitable has a 12 month low of $35.18 and a 12 month high of $56.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.58. The company has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 98,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,677,776.25. This trade represents a 6.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,698 shares of company stock worth $6,534,234 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter worth $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Equitable by 700.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,466 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Equitable by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,799 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.