First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 3,306 Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,854 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 558.9% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Equinor ASA in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Equinor ASA Trading Up 1.6 %

EQNR opened at $27.41 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a twelve month low of $24.44 and a twelve month high of $34.73. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $26.73 and a 200-day moving average of $29.34. The stock has a market cap of $85.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.85.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.44). Equinor ASA had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The firm had revenue of $29.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.35 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equinor ASA will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 30.34%.

Equinor ASA Company 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.