Investors Buy Large Volume of Equinor ASA Put Options (NYSE:EQNR)

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 5,378 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 107% compared to the average volume of 2,598 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQNR. Danske raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Equinor ASA from $30.90 to $28.20 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Equinor ASA in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.10.

Equinor ASA Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Equinor ASA stock traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, hitting $25.57. 2,744,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,337,444. Equinor ASA has a 52 week low of $21.85 and a 52 week high of $29.32. The company has a market cap of $71.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Folketrygdfondet boosted its stake in Equinor ASA by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,640,631,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300,472 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Equinor ASA by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,151,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,340,000 after buying an additional 399,861 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Equinor ASA by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,121,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,636,000 after buying an additional 188,709 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Equinor ASA by 3,159.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,649,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 958.7% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,447,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

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.