Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Holdings in Equinor ASA $EQNR

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its Equinor stake by 17% in the second quarter, selling 1.15 million shares and retaining 5.58 million shares valued at approximately $175.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 5.51% of Equinor.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with Equinor holding a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $39.20, below the stock’s recent $44.32 price.
• Equinor reported quarterly EPS of $1.33, slightly below estimates, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share—equivalent to a 3.5% annualized yield.

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its position in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) by 17.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,576,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,145,395 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.23% of Equinor ASA worth $175,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 187,623 shares of the company's stock worth $5,891,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 24.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 1,581.9% during the second quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, VectorGlobal IAG Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the first quarter worth about $285,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EQNR shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Equinor ASA from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Equinor ASA from an "underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.3%

EQNR stock opened at $44.32 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $22.26 and a twelve month high of $45.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $105.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.90 and a 200 day moving average of $38.25.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $34.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.03 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 23.60% and a net margin of 7.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Equinor ASA Profile

Equinor ASA is a Norwegian energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, development, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company also supplies crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products and electricity, and participates in energy trading and related activities.

Equinor has expanded beyond its traditional petroleum business into lower-carbon energy, including offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen-related projects. Its operations and partnerships span several regions, with significant activities on the Norwegian continental shelf as well as projects in Europe, North America, South America and other international markets.

The company was established in 1972 as Den norske stats oljeselskap, commonly known as Statoil, and adopted the name Equinor in 2018 to reflect its broader energy strategy.

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.