EQT Corporation $EQT Stock Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,273,496 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 29,077 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $61,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of EQT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,762,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EQT during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of EQT by 8.3% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 42.3% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 12,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 3,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 26.4% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,379 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

EQT Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:EQT opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. EQT Corporation has a 12 month low of $47.94 and a 12 month high of $68.24. The company has a market cap of $33.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.53.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 28.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from EQT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 15.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of EQT from $79.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties, with a primary focus on natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from shale formations.

EQT’s operations are concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Its activities include drilling, completion, production and management of natural gas wells, along with related gathering and infrastructure operations that support the transportation of its products to market.

The company traces its roots to Equitable Gas, founded in 1878, and has evolved through multiple stages of expansion and restructuring in the U.S.