Northern Trust Corp Purchases 331,684 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) by 63.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 851,312 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 331,684 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp's holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $20,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Equinor ASA during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 1,009.8% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut Equinor ASA from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.70 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Equinor ASA from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Danske upgraded Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinor ASA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.85.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of EQNR traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,156,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,554,190. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $65.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.78. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.41 and a 52 week high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.17). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. The company had revenue of $27.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.16 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.304 dividend. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is 38.29%.

Equinor ASA Profile

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.