Morgan Stanley Cuts EQT (NYSE:EQT) Price Target to $67.00

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $68.00 to $67.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

EQT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of EQT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on EQT from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on EQT from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

EQT Stock Performance

NYSE:EQT opened at $53.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.45. EQT has a 1-year low of $47.94 and a 1-year high of $68.24.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%.The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that EQT will post 3.97 EPS for the current year.

EQT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. EQT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Toby Z. Rice sold 175,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,157,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,747,310.95. The trade was a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 274,042 shares of company stock worth $15,005,076 over the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of EQT by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in EQT by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 773 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in EQT by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 46,582 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in EQT by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,154 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in EQT by 1.4% during the second quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,897 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 90.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT) is a U.S.-based energy company focused on the exploration, development and production of natural gas. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company concentrates its upstream operations in the Appalachian Basin, producing from major shale formations including the Marcellus and Utica. EQT’s primary product is natural gas, with production activities supported by associated liquids and conventional gas assets where applicable.

In addition to drilling and well development, EQT operates and coordinates the infrastructure and commercial activities necessary to bring gas to market.