3,078,900 Shares in EQT Corporation $EQT Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,078,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $163,705,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in EQT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of EQT by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 773 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens lifted their target price on EQT from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised EQT to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

Insider Transactions at EQT

In related news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 274,042 shares of company stock valued at $15,005,076. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE EQT opened at $53.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $52.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.45. The stock has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that EQT Corporation will post 3.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

About EQT

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.