Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys New Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,746 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in Hess during the third quarter worth $3,042,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,731,692 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $235,164,000 after purchasing an additional 200,197 shares during the last quarter. Twin Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Hess by 82.8% during the 3rd quarter. Twin Securities Inc. now owns 95,663 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $12,991,000 after purchasing an additional 43,332 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P lifted its stake in Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Hess by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP now owns 330,110 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,337,000 after buying an additional 91,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE HES traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $147.18. 891,937 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,739. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.04. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is a boost from Hess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. 9.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hess Company Profile

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.