Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This trade represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.16, for a total value of $1,534,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 753,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,534,018.96. This trade represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Equitable by 195.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 154.3% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $52.23. 2,604,674 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,550,086. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.39. Equitable has a one year low of $35.49 and a one year high of $56.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.56. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS 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%. Analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

About Equitable

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.