25,000 EQT Corporation $EQT Shares Sold by Viking Fund Management LLC

Key Points

• Viking Fund Management reduced its EQT position by 33.3% in the third quarter, selling 25,000 shares and retaining 50,000 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view of EQT, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.68, despite some recent target-price cuts.
• EQT reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue down 29.2% year over year, but increased its quarterly dividend to $0.17 per share, representing a 1.3% yield.

Viking Fund Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in EQT were worth $2,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in EQT in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of EQT by 198.9% during the 2nd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 523 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of EQT by 76.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of EQT by 251.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Fund Advisers LLC now owns 577 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQT. Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on EQT from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded EQT to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQT currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.68.

EQT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQT opened at $52.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.29. The company has a market cap of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.66. EQT Corporation has a 12-month low of $47.94 and a 12-month high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.90 EPS for the current year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from EQT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is 15.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQT

In related news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of EQT stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About EQT

EQT Corporation is a natural gas producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil, with its operations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

In addition to its upstream production activities, EQT has interests in the midstream infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, and store natural gas. These assets support the movement of production from well sites to regional and interstate markets.

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