Empirical Finance LLC Reduces Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its holdings in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 58.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,992 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,448 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in EQT were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of EQT by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in EQT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $302,000. Conning Inc. bought a new stake in EQT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in EQT by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 61,032 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of EQT by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,396 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,899 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQT. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of EQT from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on EQT from $41.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on EQT from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank downgraded EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded EQT from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.94.

EQT Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EQT opened at $53.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.14, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.08. EQT Co. has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $54.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.59.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. EQT’s payout ratio is 75.00%.

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.