Insider Selling: Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) COO Sells 278 Shares of Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) COO Julie A. Huber sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.86, for a total transaction of $12,193.08. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 57,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,642.82. This trade represents a 0.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.94. 43,874 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 74,971. The stock has a market cap of $671.78 million, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.44 and a 12-month high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,064 shares of the bank’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,735 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

About Equity Bancshares

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.