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

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 5,378 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 107% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,598 put options.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Folketrygdfondet boosted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,631,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300,472 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Equinor ASA by 3,159.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,649,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568,095 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,310,812 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 771.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,015,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,061,000 after purchasing an additional 899,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 975.0% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 842,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,961,000 after buying an additional 764,204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

NYSE:EQNR opened at $25.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $72.51 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.17. Equinor ASA has a 1-year low of $21.85 and a 1-year high of $29.32.

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

Equinor ASA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. Equinor ASA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQNR. Nordea Equity Research raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DZ Bank raised Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. HSBC raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Pareto Securities raised shares of Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinor ASA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.10.

Equinor ASA Company 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.