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

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,600,000 shares, a drop of 27.1% from the February 13th total of 6,310,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equitable from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.75.

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Insider Buying and Selling 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, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $825,162.36. This trade represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 105,032 shares of company stock worth $5,443,966 over 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 have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $668,250,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 700.3% in 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 last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 608.1% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,468,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 237.0% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,758,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,955,000 after buying an additional 1,236,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE EQH traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.49. 12,616,736 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,447,882. The firm has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.39. 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 $35.49 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.82.

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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently 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.