EQT Corporation $EQT Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) by 3.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,078,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 125,483 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in EQT were worth $163,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQT. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in EQT during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of EQT in the second quarter worth $26,000. Community Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 198.9% during the second quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 251.8% during the second quarter. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC now owns 577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of EQT during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In other news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of EQT stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of EQT from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of EQT in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of EQT from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of EQT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $55.02 on Friday. EQT Corporation has a one year low of $47.94 and a one year high of $68.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 5th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 5th. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

About EQT

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company primarily develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, with a focus on natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

EQT’s products include natural gas, natural gas liquids and condensate. Its operations span drilling, well completion, production and related gathering activities, supporting the delivery of energy to utilities, industrial customers, marketers and other buyers.