Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Decreases Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in EQT were worth $503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in EQT by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,877,405 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,405,007,000 after buying an additional 11,993,729 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in EQT by 38.8% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 170,957 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,344,000 after buying an additional 47,776 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in EQT in the 1st quarter worth $796,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in EQT by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 228,281 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,462,000 after buying an additional 104,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in EQT by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,165 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 4,483 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of EQT stock traded down $0.48 on Monday, hitting $33.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,401,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,106,403. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. EQT Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.07 and a fifty-two week high of $45.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 1.12.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.12. EQT had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. EQT’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that EQT Co. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of EQT in a research note on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of EQT from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of EQT from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of EQT from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of EQT from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.50.

EQT Company Profile

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.