Equinor ASA $EQNR is Folketrygdfondet’s Largest Position

Folketrygdfondet reduced its stake in Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,446,508 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,817,738 shares during the period. Equinor ASA makes up 60.1% of Folketrygdfondet’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Folketrygdfondet’s holdings in Equinor ASA were worth $2,570,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 21.5% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,100,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,143,049 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 113.0% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,787,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,945,000 after buying an additional 948,609 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 140.4% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 570,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,346,000 after buying an additional 333,233 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Equinor ASA by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,141,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,703,000 after buying an additional 315,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 381.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 396,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,960,000 after acquiring an additional 313,837 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE EQNR opened at $26.92 on Friday. Equinor ASA has a 1 year low of $21.41 and a 1 year high of $28.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.28. The company has a market cap of $79.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.20). Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 5.27%.The business had revenue of $26.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.26 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Equinor ASA will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinor ASA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio is 57.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EQNR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. DZ Bank cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.71.

Equinor ASA Profile

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.