EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in EQT Corporation by 16.9%, acquiring an additional 152,280 shares to total 1,052,680 shares, valued at approximately $56.25 million.
• EQT's recent quarterly earnings showed a miss in estimates, reporting $0.45 earnings per share against a forecasted $0.52, alongside a revenue of $1.60 billion versus the expected $1.78 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 34.05%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,052,680 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 152,280 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.18% of EQT worth $56,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of EQT by 82.4% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,876 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,557 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,261,183 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $120,815,000 after buying an additional 249,005 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,204,106 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $278,055,000 after buying an additional 110,249 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,509,054 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 529.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 41,294 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 34,733 shares during the period. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EQT news, EVP Sarah Fenton sold 12,438 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president owned 13,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,646.18. This represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $51.89. The company had a trading volume of 5,263,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,628,958. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $55.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.11. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $30.88 and a fifty-two week high of $61.02.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.07). EQT had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 15.87%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQT shares. Stephens decreased their price objective on EQT from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Roth Capital started coverage on EQT in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $69.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded EQT to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.84.

About EQT

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.