Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Equinor ASA $EQNR

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position of 200,349 shares of Equinor ASA in Q4, valued at approximately $4.73 million.
• Equinor raised its quarterly dividend to $0.39 per share (annualized $1.56), implying a yield of about 4.1%, with an ex-dividend date of May 15 and payment on May 27.
• Analyst coverage is mixed after recent upgrades and downgrades, leaving Equinor with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $34.61.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 200,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,734,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the third quarter worth about $57,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 172.9% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,174 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares during the period. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EQNR. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Pareto Securities lowered shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $40.40 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Equinor ASA from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $34.61.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

EQNR stock opened at $38.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.43. Equinor ASA has a 52-week low of $21.96 and a 52-week high of $43.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.21. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 4.74% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The firm had revenue of $25.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.31 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 4.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Equinor ASA's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.21%.

Equinor ASA Profile

Equinor ASA NYSE: EQNR is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway's petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor's operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.

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