Bank of America Corp DE Increases Position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 42.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,896 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,973 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.13% of Equity Bancshares worth $844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,266 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,033 shares of the bank’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Julie A. Huber sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.10, for a total transaction of $156,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 57,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,600.80. This represents a 6.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ EQBK opened at $39.51 on Monday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $32.24 and a one year high of $50.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $692.02 million, a PE ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 15.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQBK. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.60.

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.