Equinor ASA $EQNR Shares Sold by Folketrygdfondet

Folketrygdfondet decreased its holdings in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 104,239,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,206,934 shares during the quarter. Equinor ASA accounts for about 0.2% of Folketrygdfondet’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Folketrygdfondet’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $2,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth approximately $730,757,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Equinor ASA by 30.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,759,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,227,000 after buying an additional 3,659,611 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Equinor ASA by 1,437.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,286,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,741,000 after buying an additional 2,137,642 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,366,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in Equinor ASA by 38,151.0% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 511,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,478,000 after purchasing an additional 510,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Trading Down 2.1%

Equinor ASA stock opened at $36.72 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $22.26 and a 12 month high of $43.46. The stock has a market cap of $108.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.03.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.47. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The business had revenue of $28.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.73 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 58.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on EQNR. Pareto Securities cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Equinor ASA from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.20.

Equinor ASA Profile

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low?carbon energy.