California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 520,655 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 17,808 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in EQT were worth $19,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 3.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,471 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 72,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 5.1% in the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 1.4% in the first quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,361 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at EQT

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

EQT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQT traded down $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.07. The company had a trading volume of 482,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,114,569. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $32.07 and a twelve month high of $45.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.12. EQT had a return on equity of 4.52% and a net margin of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $952.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that EQT Co. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on EQT from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on EQT from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised EQT to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on EQT in a report on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.50.

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.