Virtu Financial LLC Acquires 34,446 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 184.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,138 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,446 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in EQT were worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 22.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,877,405 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,405,007,000 after purchasing an additional 11,993,729 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in EQT by 27.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,883,694 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $737,089,000 after buying an additional 4,339,407 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 8.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,865,664 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,885,590,000 after acquiring an additional 3,942,802 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of EQT by 4,680.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,868,030 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $110,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC bought a new position in shares of EQT during the fourth quarter worth about $75,387,000. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE EQT traded down $2.02 on Friday, hitting $31.57. 9,077,096 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,179,928. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.20. EQT Co. has a 12 month low of $31.41 and a 12 month high of $45.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

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

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut EQT from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens decreased their price target on EQT from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on EQT from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on EQT in a report on Friday, April 19th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.50.

EQT Company Profile

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.