Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Stock Price

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $30.90 to $28.20 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.15% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Pareto Securities upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Equinor ASA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut Equinor ASA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Equinor ASA to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Danske upgraded Equinor ASA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.10.

Equinor ASA Stock Performance

Shares of EQNR stock opened at $24.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $67.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Equinor ASA has a 52-week low of $21.85 and a 52-week high of $29.32.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinor ASA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQNR. Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 111,466,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,631,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300,472 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 1,310,812 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 771.8% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,015,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,061,000 after buying an additional 899,157 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its stake in shares of Equinor ASA by 975.0% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 842,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 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.