Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 13,873 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 181,395 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 13,873 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in EQT were worth $8,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of EQT by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,530,286 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,344,371,000 after buying an additional 358,649 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in EQT by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,427,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $663,552,000 after acquiring an additional 429,733 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of EQT by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,855,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $638,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,632 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in EQT by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,829,938 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $637,698,000 after buying an additional 1,774,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in EQT by 46.3% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered EQT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of EQT from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on EQT from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on EQT from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.39.

EQT Stock Up 2.9 %

EQT stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.80. 6,651,883 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,830,697. EQT Co. has a 1-year low of $30.02 and a 1-year high of $56.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.50. The stock has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

EQT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.1575 dividend. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. EQT's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.53%.

EQT Company 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.