Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 36,142 Shares of EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in EQT Co. (NYSE:EQT) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,803 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 36,142 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in EQT were worth $12,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQT. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in EQT by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 976 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,731 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of EQT by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,719 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of EQT by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 60,948 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EQT Stock Up 2.4 %

EQT stock opened at $47.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.77. The stock has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.02, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. EQT Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $56.66.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. EQT had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 4.35%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EQT Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.1575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. EQT’s payout ratio is presently 157.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EQT. Citigroup increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on EQT from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank cut shares of EQT from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $55.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stephens upgraded shares of EQT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.11.

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.