Equitable Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:EQH)

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 3,002 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,862% compared to the average volume of 153 put options.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.22. 1,560,111 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,546,818. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.56. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.49 and a 52-week high of $56.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 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 (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.84%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. The trade was a 17.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 103,332 shares of company stock valued at $5,364,610 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,278,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,705,000 after purchasing an additional 535,671 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after acquiring an additional 79,999 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $668,250,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after acquiring an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equitable by 59.9% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.