Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 39,377 Shares of EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Andrew Hill Investment Advisors cut its EQT stake by 70.6%, selling 39,377 shares and retaining 16,419 shares worth approximately $797,000. Institutional investors collectively own 90.81% of EQT.
• EQT’s CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares for about $9.65 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, reducing his direct ownership by 7.51%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $67.64 target price. EQT also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.17 per share, while its latest quarterly earnings and revenue fell short of estimates.

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,419 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 39,377 shares during the period. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in EQT were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the third quarter worth about $252,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of EQT during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of EQT by 28.1% during the third quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 975 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new position in EQT during the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its stake in EQT by 5.9% in the third quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 6,608 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQT. Scotiabank initiated coverage on EQT in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of EQT to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on EQT from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered EQT from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.64.

EQT Price Performance

NYSE EQT opened at $55.62 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $53.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.94. The firm has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $47.94 and a fifty-two week high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that EQT Corporation will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 4th. This is an increase from EQT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. EQT's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

EQT Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company develops and operates unconventional oil and gas properties, with a primary focus on natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from shale formations.

EQT's operations are concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Its activities include drilling, completion, production and management of natural gas wells, along with related gathering and infrastructure operations that support the transportation of its products to market.

The company traces its roots to Equitable Gas, founded in 1878, and has evolved through multiple stages of expansion and restructuring in the U.S.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EQT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.