Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Stake in EQT Corporation $EQT

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in EQT Corporation by 14.0%, selling over 7.4 million shares, leaving it with approximately 45.9 million shares valued at $2.45 billion.
• In addition to Wellington's actions, several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions in EQT, with 90.81% of the stock now owned by such entities.
• EQT Corporation announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1575, which translates to an annualized yield of 1.2%, demonstrating the company's continued commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,891,210 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 7,450,933 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 7.67% of EQT worth $2,451,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in EQT by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 205,679 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,989,000 after acquiring an additional 54,779 shares during the period. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,284,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in EQT by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 $690,646.18. This trade represents a 48.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky A. Bailey sold 4,259 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.56, for a total value of $219,594.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQT. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on EQT from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on EQT from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of EQT in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of EQT in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.95.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $52.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 0.59. EQT Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.42 and a fifty-two week high of $61.02. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.16.

EQT (NYSE:EQT - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.78 billion. EQT had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that EQT Corporation will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

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

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.

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