Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,883 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,491 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $2,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQNR. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 19,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Price Performance

Equinor ASA stock opened at $23.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $64.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.08. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $21.41 and a 1 year high of $29.32.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.19). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 8.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.304 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQNR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. DZ Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equinor ASA from $30.90 to $28.20 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.10.

Equinor ASA 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.