Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Holdings in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR – Get Rating) by 26.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,417 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,413 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQNR. Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 8.9% in the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 3.6% in the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 8,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Equinor ASA by 3.1% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 31,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its position in Equinor ASA by 3.4% in the third quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 9,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.46% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:EQNR opened at $31.31 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.62. The stock has a market cap of $101.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.04. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $27.02 and a 1 year high of $42.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 28th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $43.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.68 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 51.24% and a net margin of 16.29%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 9th. Equinor ASA’s payout ratio is currently 8.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equinor ASA from 304.00 to 342.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. HSBC cut Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Equinor ASA from 376.00 to 375.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. StockNews.com cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Equinor ASA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinor ASA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.63.

Equinor ASA Company Profile

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Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and petroleum-derived products, 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.