Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 44,180 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,032,260 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,180 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $32,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQNR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 558.9% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQNR. DZ Bank cut shares of Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.40 to $28.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Equinor ASA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Equinor ASA in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.25.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQNR traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.45. 3,903,833 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,715,305. Equinor ASA has a 12 month low of $24.44 and a 12 month high of $34.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $26.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.85.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The company had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Equinor ASA's payout ratio is 30.34%.

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.