Short Interest in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Drops By 7.8%

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,240,000 shares, a drop of 7.8% from the December 15th total of 4,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EQH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.18.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $315,368.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,677,776.25. This represents a 6.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $110,176,000. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,334,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Equitable by 700.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,563,172 shares of the company's stock worth $74,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,837 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Equitable by 1,092.4% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 875,589 shares of the company's stock worth $41,302,000 after acquiring an additional 802,160 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Equitable by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,083,650 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,855,000 after purchasing an additional 539,904 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EQH traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.70. 1,567,195 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,062,002. Equitable has a 1 year low of $31.76 and a 1 year high of $52.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.86 and a 200 day moving average of $44.22. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company's revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -88.07%.

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.