Short Interest in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Grows By 15.4%

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the September 15th total of 3,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $44.57. 3,143,386 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,510,615. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.76.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQH shares. UBS Group cut shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total value of $1,266,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,635,021. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 678,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,635,021. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,969,870 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after purchasing an additional 446,752 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 60.9% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 100,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 38,040 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 265.0% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 69,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after buying an additional 50,460 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 4th quarter valued at $2,892,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth about $831,000. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.