Raymond James & Associates Sells 15,860 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,760 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,860 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 1.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 24,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equinor ASA by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 7.0% during the third quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 5.8% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 12,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 7.7% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 10,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQNR. Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of EQNR opened at $27.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $24.44 and a 1-year high of $34.73. The company has a market capitalization of $84.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.60.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

Equinor ASA Profile

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.