American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,588 shares of the bank's stock after selling 16,494 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.63% of Equity Bancshares worth $4,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 139.9% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,725 shares of the bank's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the bank's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 5.3 %

Shares of EQBK traded down $1.97 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.06. 106,873 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,530. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $613.92 million, a P/E ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $40.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.74. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.98 and a 1 year high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 15.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQBK. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.20.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.