Jane Street Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 292.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,757 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,397 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $1,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,266 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,033 shares of the bank’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,794,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Julie A. Huber sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.10, for a total value of $156,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,600.80. The trade was a 6.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EQBK shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Equity Bancshares from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.60.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

EQBK opened at $40.85 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.54 and a 200 day moving average of $42.20. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.75 and a 52-week high of $50.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $715.56 million, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.75.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 15.27%.

Equity Bancshares Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.