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

by · The Markets Daily

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH – Get Free Report) saw 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. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQH. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upgraded Equitable from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.75.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Equitable

Equitable Stock Performance

NYSE EQH traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.97. 3,119,013 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,559,507. 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 has a 52 week low of $35.49 and a 52 week high of $56.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.69.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,282,137.85. This trade represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Equitable by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after buying an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $295,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equitable by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after acquiring an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 752,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,476,000 after purchasing an additional 78,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $29,939,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equitable

(Get Free Report)

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.

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