Investors Purchase Large Volume of EQT Put Options (NYSE:EQT)

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 57,425 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 259% compared to the typical volume of 15,977 put options.

Insider Activity at EQT

In other news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 1,731 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.46, for a total transaction of $92,539.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,333,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,732,497.78. The trade was a 0.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.80, for a total transaction of $246,136.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 102,830 shares of company stock valued at $5,602,913. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EQT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 1,161,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $62,282,000 after purchasing an additional 132,741 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in EQT by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 643,321 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,857,000 after buying an additional 56,149 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of EQT by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 583,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,253,000 after buying an additional 48,587 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 517,651 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,746,000 after acquiring an additional 360,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of EQT by 5.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 302,193 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $18,252,000 after acquiring an additional 16,051 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of EQT from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on EQT from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on EQT from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of EQT from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of EQT from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.12.

EQT Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE EQT traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $49.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,862,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,711,604. EQT has a 52 week low of $47.94 and a 52 week high of $68.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $30.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.67.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 31.94%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that EQT will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About EQT

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.