Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.67, but opened at $23.62. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $23.61, with a volume of 1,775,125 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on EQNR shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Equinor ASA to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised Equinor ASA from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Equinor ASA to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equinor ASA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $25.80 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.90.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $66.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $25.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.45 billion. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Equinor ASA

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinor ASA in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinor ASA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Equinor ASA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equinor ASA by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Equinor ASA by 363.5% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. 5.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.