Short Interest in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Declines By 7.0%

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,840,000 shares, a decrease of 7.0% from the August 31st total of 4,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $59.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total transaction of $1,223,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 73,469 shares of company stock valued at $3,067,434. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after buying an additional 446,752 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,766,000 after buying an additional 637,916 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,232,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,553,000 after buying an additional 18,475 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 15.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,083,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,855,000 after buying an additional 539,904 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after buying an additional 781,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $41.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 781,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,500,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. Equitable has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $44.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.89. The stock has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

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.