EQT Corporation $EQT Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in EQT Corporation by 8.8%, holding approximately 1.9 million shares valued at about $101.9 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Insider sales included 12,438 shares sold by EVP Sarah Fenton and 4,259 shares sold by Director Vicky A. Bailey, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership.
• EQT's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.45, missing estimates, and the company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 8.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,906,519 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 182,961 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.32% of EQT worth $101,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in EQT by 199.5% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,990,714 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $184,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,658,375 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $120,252,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of EQT by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,039,340 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,955,922,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,054 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,627,000. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP grew its stake in EQT by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 1,500,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $80,145,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQT news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $646,029.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total transaction of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

EQT Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EQT stock opened at $51.90 on Friday. EQT Corporation has a one year low of $31.45 and a one year high of $61.02. The company has a market cap of $32.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.11.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. EQT's payout ratio is presently 34.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EQT. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on EQT from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Mizuho raised shares of EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of EQT in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.14.

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.

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