UBS Group AG Sells 1,197,183 Shares of Equinor ASA $EQNR

UBS Group AG decreased its position in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 71.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 477,273 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,197,183 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $11,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Equinor ASA in the third quarter valued at $57,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 172.9% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. DZ Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Pareto Securities downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.61.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

EQNR stock opened at $39.48 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $22.26 and a 1 year high of $43.46. The company has a market cap of $116.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.36 and a 200 day moving average of $29.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.47. Equinor ASA had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The firm had revenue of $28.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.73 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinor ASA will post 5.02 EPS for the current year.

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is 55.96%.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR) is a Norway-based integrated energy company headquartered in Stavanger. Historically established as Statoil in the 1970s to develop Norway’s petroleum resources, the company changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to reflect a strategic shift toward a broader energy portfolio. Equinor’s operations span the full upstream value chain, including exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, alongside trading and marketing activities that support its global commercial operations.

In recent years Equinor has pursued a transition strategy that combines continued development of conventional oil and gas resources with growing investments in low‑carbon energy.