EQT (NYSE:EQT) CEO Toby Rice Sells 175,328 Shares

EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of EQT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $9,648,299.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $118,747,310.95. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

EQT Price Performance

NYSE:EQT traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,337,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,478,784. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.53. The company has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. EQT Corporation has a 52-week low of $47.94 and a 52-week high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its 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 return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. EQT’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQT. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the first quarter valued at $256,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in EQT by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in EQT by 495.2% in the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 128,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,468,000 after purchasing an additional 106,545 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in EQT by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 30,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 8,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 85,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 25,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQT. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of EQT from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research cut EQT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens upped their target price on EQT from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.48.

EQT Company Profile

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.