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

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

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.70. 1,281,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,867,357. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.47 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The company has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.86%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 139,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,109,411.76. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total value of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 92,209 shares in the company, valued at $5,039,221.85. This trade represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,589,966 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable in the 4th quarter worth approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 valued at $74,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,837 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 608.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,289,000 after buying an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 237.0% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,955,000 after buying an additional 1,236,799 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

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.