Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) by 63.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,016 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,808 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $2,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,288 shares of the company's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut Equinor ASA from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQNR traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.82. 2,158,349 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,587,166. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50 day moving average is $23.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Equinor ASA has a one year low of $21.41 and a one year high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $27.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.16 billion. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 20.33%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.304 per share. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Equinor ASA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.84%.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.