Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,170,259 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 51,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.27% of EQT worth $43,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQT. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in EQT in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in EQT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in EQT by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,563 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William E. Jordan sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total transaction of $1,425,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 456,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,602,402.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Lesley Evancho sold 46,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.29, for a total transaction of $1,935,840.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 160,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,642,900.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP William E. Jordan sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total value of $1,425,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 456,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,602,402.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on EQT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of EQT from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens upped their price objective on EQT from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.29.

EQT Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $37.06. 613,686 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,410,109. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $45.23. The company has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.50.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. EQT had a net margin of 10.96% and a return on equity of 4.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EQT Co. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

About EQT

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. The company sells natural gas and natural gas liquids to marketers, utilities, and industrial customers through pipelines located in the Appalachian Basin. It also offers marketing services and contractual pipeline capacity management services.