New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Position in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 571,932 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,787 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in EQT were worth $26,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in EQT by 184.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 891 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in EQT during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. raised its holdings in EQT by 100.8% during the third quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 1,004 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas F. Karam sold 30,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.83, for a total transaction of $1,351,803.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 201,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,038,086.64. This trade represents a 13.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens increased their price target on shares of EQT from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.17.

EQT Stock Down 4.6 %

EQT stock opened at $50.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a PE ratio of 125.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.08. EQT Co. has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $56.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.82%. Equities analysts expect that EQT Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.50%.

About EQT

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.