Viking Fund Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Viking Fund Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 30,000 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in EQT were worth $4,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in EQT by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,143,774 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $606,059,000 after buying an additional 4,162,065 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in EQT by 386.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,347,660 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $205,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454,741 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP bought a new stake in EQT during the fourth quarter valued at $123,575,000. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of EQT by 199.5% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,990,714 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $184,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,658,375 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of EQT in the 4th quarter worth about $113,924,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens cut their target price on shares of EQT from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of EQT from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of EQT from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on EQT from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded EQT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EQT has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.11.

EQT Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:EQT traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.49. 4,438,649 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,910,082. EQT Co. has a 12 month low of $30.02 and a 12 month high of $57.37. The company has a market cap of $33.22 billion, a PE ratio of 138.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.09.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.20. EQT had a return on equity of 4.35% and a net margin of 4.37%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. EQT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.53%.

EQT 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.