Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 35.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,585 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 10,824 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 890.4% during the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 104,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 94,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 5.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,831 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 754,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,917,000 after buying an additional 10,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equity Bancshares

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Leon Borck purchased 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,952.57. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Gregory L. Gaeddert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total transaction of $245,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,675.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,952.57. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 33,101 shares of company stock valued at $1,351,925 over the last 90 days. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of EQBK opened at $41.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $636.51 million, a P/E ratio of 69.55 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.78 and a 12 month high of $42.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $55.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.56 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

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.