Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in Golar LNG Limited (NASDAQ:GLNG) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,084 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,202 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Golar LNG were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Golar LNG by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,694 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Golar LNG by 20.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 194,665 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,156,000 after purchasing an additional 32,751 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Golar LNG by 21.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 639,813 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,520,000 after purchasing an additional 114,531 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Golar LNG by 5.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,920,590 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $70,601,000 after purchasing an additional 94,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luxor Capital Group LP acquired a new stake in Golar LNG during the third quarter worth approximately $10,286,000. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Golar LNG Stock Performance

Shares of Golar LNG stock opened at $30.70 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.85. Golar LNG Limited has a 1 year low of $24.21 and a 1 year high of $44.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 219.30 and a beta of 0.47.

Golar LNG Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. Golar LNG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 208.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GLNG. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Golar LNG from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. DNB Markets downgraded shares of Golar LNG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Golar LNG to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised Golar LNG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.13.

Golar LNG Company Profile

Golar LNG Limited designs, converts, owns, and operates marine infrastructure for the liquefaction of natural gas. The company operates through three segments: FLNG, Corporate and Other, and Shipping. It engages in the regasification, storage, and offloading of liquefied natural gas (LNG); operation of floating liquefaction natural gas (FLNG) vessels or projects; transportation of LNG carriers; and vessel management activities.